The Circus
by Kaytori
Summary: People are disappearing and a father asks the Storm Hawks to find his missing daughter. Naturally, they agree to help, and come across a mysterious circus. COMPLETE
1. The Cure for Boredom

**The Circus**

**Summary****: People are disappearing and a father asks the Storm Hawks to find his missing daughter. Naturally, they agree to help, and come across a mysterious circus.**

**Disclaimer****:** **All Publicly Recognizable Characters, Settings, Ideas, etc. are the Property of Nerd Corp. The Original Characters and Plot are the Property of the Author. The Author is in no way Associated with the Owners, Creators, or Producers of Nerd Corp. No Copyright Infringement is intended.**

**Chapter One: The Cure for Boredom **

**Friday, 12:00 pm, the Skies around terra Amazonia.**

Aerrow the Sky Knight sat on his bed reading a book. He was bored, and they hadn't heard a peep from Cyclonia in the last two weeks. Frankly, that worried him. It meant they were planning something, and anything that took Master Cyclonis this much time to plan and organize could not bode well. The Sky Knights' Association hadn't heard much from their new spies, only that Master Cyclonis was in her throne room constantly, working on her machine and going over old scrolls.

He sighed, figuring that they would find out eventually. He just hoped it wouldn't be too late by then.

"Um, hello?," said Stork over the speakers, "we've got someone requesting permission to land on the _Condor_. They say they need our help; I already gave them the okay." Stork personally didn't like strangers on his ship but he followed orders, and Aerrow's orders would always be to let anyone looking for help onboard.

Aerrow grabbed the pipe near his bed that would allow him to contact the bridge. "Thanks Stork. I'll meet them in the hangar."

The door to the hangar opened just as the Skimmer was about to land. Folding in its wings, it dropped on the landing pad, rolled into the hangar and skidded to a halt just in front of Aerrow.

"You Aerrow?" asked the man.

Aerrow observed his guest briefly before answering. He was a large beefy man, nowhere near as buff as Snipe but he looked like he worked out a lot. His hands were calloused, his skin dark, and he had a bit of a beer belly. His hair was dark, almost black, and he had a moustache.

"Yes, and you are?"

"Swainson. I need your help and I don't think another squadron can handle this particular mission."

"What's the mission?" asked Finn, standing just behind Aerrow, on the Sky Knight's left.

"My daughter Vesper's gone missing and so have a bunch of other kids from different terras, which is why I want you guys to look into it."

"Because we protect all of Atmos," said Aerrow.

Swainson nodded. "The others are afraid of attack if they leave for an extended amount of time, and also, like I said, this concerns a number of terras. The Sky Knight of terra Nord suggested that he and the others follow leads on their own terras while you guys look elsewhere." He turned his gaze to the floor. "I'd look myself but... I can't take any more time off without losing my job. My wife's gone, y'see. Vesper is all I got left, but if I lose my job, I can't provide for her when I get her back."

"We understand," assured Aerrow kindly. "C'mon, the bridge is this way. I'll get the rest of my team and you can tell us everything."

"So Swainson, where was the last place you saw her?" asked Piper, once the entire team minus the piloting Stork, was seated at the round table in the bridge.

"Our house, when she left for school. Her friends said she had a good day, a B on a math test." He smiled proudly to himself before continuing. "They walked her halfway home, which is nothing out of the ordinary. But she never made it home. I spent a week looking for her. I travelled to a few of her friend's terras, to her cousin on terra Nord, and to another friend on terra Tranqua. Turns out both terras have had people go missing, but just one or two teenagers, nothing more. I decided to check out a few others: Saharr had one boy, sixteen, went missing, about a week before Vesper."

"Saharr, Nord, Tranqua. Sounds like whoever this is, they're heading east," said Aerrow. "Swainson, what terra are you from?"

"Castrol."

"Yep, definitely heading east. Should I set a course?" asked Stork.

Piper got up to find her maps then came back to the table and spread one out. "I think the next target will be terra Tempa. It's the only terra east of Tranqua for a few hundred clicks. We'll need to turn thirty-six degrees. Most likely, we'll reach the terra early tomorrow morning, if we fly all night."

"Stork," said Aerrow.

"On it."

Aerrow and the others shifted slightly as the ship turned. He then redirected his attention to his guest. "Had anything strange happened the last few days? Was anyone paying more attention to her then usual?"

"Not that I can think of. She didn't tell me much about her personal life. So long as she got good grades and didn't break any laws, I just let her have her space." Swainson's shoulders slumped and he buried his face in his hands.

The Storm Hawks looked at each other uncomfortably, except for Aerrow, who just kept his eyes on his guest, waiting. He knew the pain of losing someone you care for,

"She did mention one thing," he said after pausing a few moments. "She said that an acrobat from the circus complimented her at practice the day before the circus left the terra."

"Circus?" asked Aerrow.

"Yep. _Circus Arian,_ or _Arian Circus, _something like that. Weird one, most of the performers were a species I'm unfamiliar with. Called themselves 'Arians,' the shortest was six feet tall, and they all had long pointy ears, four fingers on each hand, four arms, and light blue skin. I thought maybe it might have something to do with it so I followed it and snuck in once. I was caught and got thrown out, so I didn't find anything."

"So, they're not still at your terra?" asked Finn.

"No. It moved a couple days before Vesper went missing."

"What was Vesper practicing?" asked Junko.

"Fire dancing. I should probably give you guys a photo." He reached into his breast coat pocket and handed Aerrow a 5x3 picture. It was a headshot of a pretty girl with a thin face violet eyes and long black hair. He guessed her age to be a little older then him. He handed it to Finn.

"Don't worry man, we'll find her," assured Finn, smiling at the picture.

A few moments of silence passed and Swainson knew that he was dismissed. "Thank you. I've got a list of all five terras that have missing kids: there's eight missing altogether. I'll be leaving then."

Once Swainson was gone, Aerrow turned to Piper. "What can you tell me about Arians?"

"Nothing," she told him with a helpless shrug of her shoulders. "I've never heard of them before."

"Seriously? Hen—" Finn stopped laughing at the sight of Piper's glare in disbelief. Piper was a major history buff; it seemed strange to him that there was an entire race she was unfamiliar with.

"Maybe Stork'll know," suggested Junko. When it came to the obscure, the merb usually did.

"Never heard of them," announced Stork when asked.

"You don't have any old scrolls or books that mention them?" pressed Aerrow.

"Well," drawled the merb, bringing his left hand to his chin, "come to think of it, the name _does_ sound vaguely familiar. I could check my books but it will take awhile."

"I'll pilot the ship while you look," said Aerrow.

Stork nodded with a warning look to Aerrow not to screw up and headed to his room.

"Finn, I want you to contact the other terras on the list. Find out which ones this circus visited."

"All right. But do you really think it's responsible? I mean, Vesper disappeared two days after the circus left."

"I know, but they could have sent someone back. Whoever's responsible, they're moving from terra to terra so it's worth looking at. Also, check what other transports arrived or left the terras: anything big enough to carry a kid or two with no one the wiser."

**Friday, 5:00 pm, The **_**Condor**_**'s bridge. **

"Stork, did you find anything?" asked the Sky Knight turning to his carrier pilot, who had just entered the bridge.

"Yes, but you're not going to like it. The Arians live on an unknown terra somewhere outside the charted Atmos. They're known, or_ were_ known, to be xenophobes."

" Okay, what's a 'xenophobe'?" asked Finn, looking up from his card game with Junko.

"It's someone who hates or fears other races and cultures. Bigots," Piper explained. "And what do you mean 'were known'?"

"The only reference I could find on them was from a five-hundred-year-old book my uncle gave me, and even it didn't tell me more than that."

"Five hundred years?" asked Finn. He knew Stork had a lot of old books and scrolls, the merb loved studying the obscure, especially all things dangerous and poisonous. But five hundred years? And why were these beings popping up again?

Aerrow was thinking the same thing. Radarr who was perched in his usual place, glanced at his best friend's face.

"Raar?"

"I'm fine, just worried. If this circus really _does_ have something to do with the disappearances, we'll be going in blind. Finn, what did you find out?"

Finn put his cards down. He had wanted to report a couple of hours ago when he had finished talking to the other squads, but Aerrow had insisted on waiting for everyone to be together. Finn rolled his eyes at it finally being his turn.

"The circus's visited at least ten terras. From what the squadrons have gathered, the circus was on three of the five terras with missing kids. As for other transports, just the usual shipping of resources: crystals from Nord to Castrol, food from Castrol to Saharr. They're going to talk to the pilots but apparently those pilots aren't new and are trusted."

Piper turned to Aerrow. "Three out of five doesn't seem like much of a connection."

"Maybe, but it's all we have right now. Circus or no, Tempa's likely the next target."

**Saturday, 3:30 am, The **_**Condor**_**'s bridge.**

Piper had been piloting the ship for the past hour and fifteen minutes, the ship was quiet, everyone else was asleep. She was tired herself but due to finish soon. "You still think the circus is responsible?" she asked when she heard Aerrow's tread behind her, she could recognize all the treads of her team.

"I don't know. I don't have any proof, but even if the circus wasn't at terra Nord or terra Tundra, it was on terra Expher, which is just a half hour flight from both."

"I see what you mean," said Piper, turning to look at him, "but like you said, we have no proof. We haven't even had a chance look so far. I'm not ruling it out but you have to be careful to keep an open mind. If you become fixated on this circus, you might miss something important." Her eyed softened and she walked towards her leader; the ship would be all right on its own for a few moments.

"You're just getting fixated because that book said they were xenophobes."

"That book was five-hundred-years-old Piper. People, even races, change. What has me worried is that they were either near the terras in question, or on them soon before the kids went missing, and they're heading east. So far, we haven't found any other commonality between the missing people."

"We haven't had a chance to look for one."

"I know. But the other squadrons have and haven't found anything. Why don't you head back to bed, I've got the next shift."

"Well, I do have another ten minutes but since you're up," she shrugged, "I'll see you later."

**Saturday, 10:30 am, The **_**Condor**_**'s bridge.**

The skies were cloudy, but then, it was almost always cloudy on terra Tempa. The terra was famous for its lightning storms.

"We'll split up into three teams: Finn and Junko will take the west side of the town, Stork and Piper will take the east, and Radarr and I will look outside the town for anything unusual." Said Aerrow

Stork sighed. He'd rather stay on the ship, but they'd cover more ground in three groups and it was best if no one was alone.

"We'll meet back here in two hours," finished Aerrow.

**Saturday, 11:00 am, terra Tempa.**

"Oh Finn, look a bakery!" shouted Junko as he started towards the small building.

The sharpshooter rolled his eyes but followed his friend. They were almost there when a piece of paper was blown into his face. Growling slightly, he removed it, glancing at it as he did so.

"Umm Junko, I think we may have found something."

**Saturday, 11:20 am, terra Tempa. **

"C'mon, you lunts, get a move on - we need to be ready for tonight!"

Aerrow pushed aside an overhanging branch. It was then he saw the Arians for the first time. Swainson had been right about the height. The male barking the orders was over seven feet tall, 7'5'' at least. He had four arms, and long pointed ears that poked out of his long white hair. He was muscular but not really buff, and surrounded by yards of red and white striped fabric, wooden poles and other Arians. Most of the poles were firmly planted and some had the fabric draped over them.

"Can't we get the geeshe to do this?" asked a female.

"No, and you know why. Get back to work Munia."

"What is that thing?"

Aerrow looked down and to his right. There was a short Arian female standing right next to him. The Sky Knight figured she must be eight or so. Judging from her face, she it looked pretty young, but she was obviously old enough to be wandering around on her own. Her head almost reached his shoulders and she was wearing brown-pink pants with a bright pink shirt.

"Well?" she asked impatiently, placing her hands on her hips.

"I don't know what his species is called, but his name's Radarr."

"Is he a geeshe?"

Arrow raised his right eyebrow at the unknown word. "What's a geeshe?"

"A really smart and useful animal. Like a guard dog, or a sheep with good wool, only smarter than them."

"Radarr's not an animal, or a pet. He can't talk, but he's just as smart as any human."

"Hehehe," giggled the girl.

Aerrow raised his left eyebrow while his right one lowered. "Did I say something funny?" he asked quizzically.

"Pan! What are you doing?" shouted the male who had been barking orders.

"Talking to a human and his friend."

"Pan, how many times do I have to tell you not to speak to strangers?" he continued, walking towards them. He placed a protective hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Name's Roc, friend. You'll be coming to our show tonight I hope?"

"I'll ask my team."

"Team?" the Arian cocked an eyebrow at the boy "You're a child, don't you mean parents?"

"No," replied Aerrow abruptly, not liking the Arian's patronizing tone. "I mean team."

"Well, you must know more than most people. Either that or you're not very curious."

"Why do you say that?"

"You haven't asked what we are."

"I heard someone in town say you're Arians, but they didn't say where you were from."

"A terra called Arian, where else?"

Silence followed these words, the silence of two strangers sizing each other up. Radarr noticed the slight tension and glared at the Arian.

"Dad, do you know what Radarr is?"

"Radarr?" repeated Roc, looking down at his daughter, then back up at the Sky Knight. "Oh, you mean the furry creature? No, I've never seen the species, which is strange. I've made a study of all the creatures in the Atmos, all the known ones at any rate. How many in your team?"

"Six."

"Including Radarr?"

"Of course."

Roc reached into his breast pocket and pulled out six tickets. Smiling, he held them out. "Now you'll have to come."

"Yes, come!" shouted Pan, clapping her hands.

"Come on Pan," said Roc gently as he and his daughter turned around and began walking back to the red and white mess. "There's a lot of work still to do."

**Saturday, 12:00 pm, terra Tempa.**

"Hey Aerrow," greeted Finn. "Check it out, the circus is in town." He held up the flyer he had found.

"I know, we found them setting up just outside of town." He turned to Piper, "Did you find anything?"

"Well, no one's gone missing yet. Everyone's excited about the circus, so they don't want to talk about anything else. Nothing strange or out of the ordinary has happened."

"I say we go to the circus," suggested Finn. "Everyone will be there so we'll be able to ask around some more."

"I've never been to a circus before," said Junko. "I wonder what it's like?"

"You're going to find out," announced Aerrow, pulling the tickets out of his pocket. "I got six tickets."

**Saturday, 5:30 pm, terra Tempa.**

The lights dimmed just as Aerrow sat down between Piper and Radarr. A beam of light shone down on the center ring. In it was Roc, wearing a black suit and top hat.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, children of all ages, we, the Arian Circus, welcome you to our humble home. Now, I could go into a long winded speech about how we have many exotic animals (that are very well cared for, I assure you), and how we have acrobats whose daring feats will amaze, astound, and build up the suspense. But really, we're so good, what's the point?"

He lifted his arms and the light on him was turned off just as another, this time directed at the high wire was turned on.

An Arian on a unicycle rode onto the high wire. Slowly and wobbling slightly, she rode forward a ways then backwards a smaller ways. Using this method, she made it safely to the middle of the wire.

Breathing deeply, she put her two lower hands on the seat of her unicycle and lifted herself off slowly. Carefully she brought her legs up until they were pointing straight at the top of the tent, then removed one of her hands from the seat of the unicycle.

"Woah," said Finn and Junko with awe.

The women held that pose for about ten seconds before replacing her hand, lowering herself down, and rolling the rest of the way to the other side. As soon as her feet touched the platform cheers erupted.

Piper, who had meant to clap, was instead forced to clamp her hands over her ears.

**Saturday, 09:30 pm, terra Tempa.**

"Man, that was awesome!" shouted Finn, as the group left the tent and headed back to the _Condor._

"I liked the trapeze act," said Junko.

"Pfft," denounced Finn with a wave of his hand, "We've seen Aerrow pull off cooler moves while under fire. Double somersault through a flaming hoop, big deal."

"Not like you could pull it off Finn," chuckled Piper.

"I'm just saying," he said as he wrapped his arms around Aerrow's shoulders, "my man Aerrow here could pull off a quadruple."

**Saturday, 10:00 pm, terra Tempa.**

"You sure you want to do this Aerrow?" asked Piper, as the Sky Knight placed his blades in their holster.

Aerrow was dressed in black, with a toque covering his bright red hair. Radarr was similarly dressed, with holes in his toque for his ears.

"Suzy–Lu told you that she and the other Sky Knights and their squads haven't found anything else linking these people, right?"

Piper nodded. The Absolute Zeros and the Cloud Wolves of terra Nord and all the other squads had been investigating the disappearances, looking for another possible link between the missing people. So far proximity to the circus was still the only connection.

"Then it looks like Radarr and I are heading in. Don't worry Piper, I got Radarr as back up and you guys will be just outside."


	2. First Encounter

**The Circus**

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**Summary****: People are disappearing. And a father asks the Storm Hawks to find his missing daughter. Naturally they agree to help, and come across a mysterious circus**

**Disclaimer****:** **All Publicly Recognizable Characters, Settings, Ideas, etc. are the Property of Nerd Corp. The Original Characters and Plot are the Property of the Author. The Author is in no way Associated with the Owners, Creators, or Producers of Nerd Corp. No Copyright Infringement is intended.**

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**_NOTE:_ Just a quick note my other Storm Hawks fanfic Enemy Territory is mentioned in passing in this fic you don't have to have read ET to understand what's going on. But like I said the events in it are mentioned. Somewhat.**

**Chapter Two: First Encounter **

**Saturday, 10:45 pm, terra Tempa,**

Aerrow approached the tent at a slow run, he put his ear to the fabric and upon hearing nothing slipped under the flap, with Radarr following right behind him.

The Sky Knight was now under the bleaches, ears listening for the slightest sound.

"One more time Alto!" shouted Roc. Aerrow and Radarr made their way to the voice looking through an opening in the bleaches they could see Roc looking up and outside the pair's line of vision.

"Velum you ready?" he asked the air above him.

"All set boss," answered a female Aerrow couldn't see.

A few seconds later, a male fell from air and onto the net. "There a reason you're trying to make me do a triple?" he asked sitting up.

"It will improve the experience of our valued customers." Grunted Alto.

"We've been at this for over an hour boss," said a female climbing down the pole.

"Alright Velum we'll call it quits for tonight. You two should get some sleep. We'll pick it up again first thing in the morning."

Two moans followed this statement.

"Night kids," chuckled Roc with a wave as he headed out.

Aerrow gestured to Radarr to follow and the pair made their way back to the tent flaps. There was nothing in the main tent but open space, not even anyone to eavesdrop on now. He'd check out their camp try to find where they kept the animals and a few trailers. Hopefully he'd find something.

Half an hour later Aerrow sat crouched near a fire pit where a bunch of performers were gathered. So far all they had talked about was the day's performance and plans for future acts.

"What we really need is a contortionist," said a male.

"Not exactly a common commodity," sighed a female.

"Maybe a merb?" suggested another guy. "I hear they some of them are triple jointed. Can fit into all kinds of small places and contort themselves into all sorts of shapes."

"There was one in the crowd tonight."

"Yeah I saw him, doesn't look like he's looking for another job, sides merbs rarely leave their home terra. Bit of a wonder considering how paranoid they are and how prone to natural disasters the place is."

"So Alto how goes the triple somersault?" asked another voice as the arian himself approached the group.

"It doesn't."

The conversation turned back to existing acts and Aerrow decided to check out a few trailers.

As he approached a trailer he activated his radio. "Piper send someone back to the _Condor_ to keep an eye on Stork."

"Why?"

"Heard some of the arians say they wished they could get a merb to work as a contortionist."

"Contortionist?" asked Finn.

"When you turned into that monster, after inhaling agro-spores Stork managed to hide in the cookie jar." said Aerrow.

"The cookie jar? Things almost just a little bigger than his head. How'd he manage that?"

"It's a merb thing," replied Stork. He was staying in touch with the group over the radios.

"Alright," said Piper, "Finn you mind?"

"Ah man you mean I can't stubble around in the dark woods and get my blood sucked by bugs? Guess I can make the sacrifice, if it's for Stork. See ya later suckers!"

Piper rolled her eyes, and Aerrow chuckled, he was now at one of the trailers, careful to check for any onlookers he and Radarr took a peek through the window.

"I don't see anyone, common."

The first thing Radarr did when the pair got to the door was begin to pick the lock, he had the door open within twenty seconds.

"Took you longer than usual."

Radarr growled as if to say the lock was a bit more complicated then what he usually had to deal with.

"Okay I need you to keep an eye out if someone tries to come in lure them away, so I can get out."

Radarr nodded his comprehension, and ducked under the trailer for his watch. Aerrow opened the door and stepped inside, activating his flashlight he saw a desk littered with papers and made his way over to them.

'_List of expense and their food costs, pay for the performers, nothing about kids but that would be dumb Swainson said he already trespassed to look for evidence. Does this guy keep a journal?'_

Aerrow spent the next half hour looking for a journal or anything relating to kidnapped children, just as he was considering going he heard growling on the radio. It was Radarr's signal that someone was coming.

He heard the steps creek and ducked under the bed, to hide until Radarr got them to go away. Aerrow recognized the reddish brown of Roc's boots. As soon as the arian entered there was a knock at the door. He sighed and opened the door when he saw no one he was about to close it when he noticed a light in the woods several meters away. Arching an eyebrow he oscillated in the doorway debating whether or not to go investigate. Finally he decided it might be worth the trouble and walked out. Aerrow waited a few seconds then made his escape.

He quickly made his way to the meeting point and shook his head when Piper asked him if he had found anything. Radarr soon rejoined the group and ran up Aerrow's back coming to a stop at the Sky Knight's shoulder. He chirped a greeting and read failure on his friends face, he tightened his grip on Aerrow's shoulder. The red-head smiled at the reassurance and stroked his friend's fur.

oo0oo

**Saturday, 11:45 pm, terra Tempa,**

"Next time, send Junko, or Piper, or Radarr," hissed Stork by way of greeting when the others returned. He removed his earplugs and pocketed them but not before shooting a glare at Finn, who hadn't failed to remind the merb that he was his bodyguard _every_ _five_ minutes.

"Sorry Stork," said Aerrow as he took a seat. "You've got a few surprises set up for anyone who tries to come on board?"

"Oh yeah, just waiting for you guys to get back so I can activate them."

"What exactly do you have?"

It wasn't until the rest of the squad got the list of booby traps and how to avoid them that they went to bed, the last thing anyone wanted was to accidently trigger one of Stork's... surprises.

**Sunday, 01:00 pm terra Tempa**

Aerrow gripped the bar and jumped, this was his home, in the air. The way most people feel in their homes behind locked doors and windows was how he felt in the air, safe invulnerable. The hoop was fast approaching, he let go and flew somersaulting as he went. He was through, he reached out small strong hands gripped his wrists and swung him onto the platform.

"Thanks Radarr," said Aerrow as the furry creature swung back and landed on his shoulder he looked down at the crowd and gaping mouths.

"Told you he could pull off a quadruple," gloated Finn.

"Wow," said Velum as Aerrow started climbing down the ladder. "That is impressive."

The Storm Hawks and a bunch of other kids were at circus school. The Arians invited everyone, adults included to come and show off their skills in the ring. Finn had taken up knife throwing and outdone the arian performer.

If the arians were kidnapping people and they were planning to kidnap Stork the merb at least would not be alone. While Aerrow, Radarr and Finn, made themselves bait Piper and Junko, kept an eye on any large transport leaving the terra. Stork stayed on the _Condor _surrounded by his traps.

The afternoon passed by quickly for the three performers and by 3:30 pm they were ready to head home. They thanked the arians for the lesson and headed back.

"Hey Stork anything happen on your end?" asked Aerrow as they entered the bridge.

"It's been quiet."

"Of course it's been quiet those guys would be dumb to try and attack the Storm Hawks," said Finn.

Aerrow shook his head.

oo0oo

**Sunday, 04:00 pm terra Tempa**

The Condor was silent. A rare event, and Stork the merb was enjoying the silence as he sat at the table reading his book. Then the door behind him opened.

"Oh man you should have seen me! Those arians will be coming for me anytime now," announced Finn with a wave of his hand.

Stork rolled his eyes and closed his book with a sigh. _'All good things…'_ he thought miserably to himself. Why had he signed on for this again? Oh right so he could complain.

"Piper and Junko back yet?" asked Aerrow looking around the bridge.

"No not yet."

Arrow sighed and decided to get something to eat, he had just finished, and was cleaning the dishes when Piper entered the kitchen.

"Hey Aerrow."

"Oh hey Piper," smiling in greeting he turned to face her while he placed his hands on the counter and leaned back. "You and Junko find anything?"

Piper shook her head "The good news is that only one or two large transports arrive or leave this terra on a daily basis it's not high traffic, so me and Junko shouldn't have any trouble, keeping track of them. How things go on your end?"

"Well I pulled off a quadruple and Finn managed to impress everyone with his knife throwing. I want you to keep an eye on Zix she's really flexible and did this great act with a hula hoop.

"Hula hoop?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm… she that girl I saw you talking to when Junko and I popped by for lunch?"

"Yeah, that's her."

"I'd feel better if we stuck together," said Piper.

"So would I, but me and the others can handle ourselves I need you and Junko to make sure the circus doesn't get anyone else."

"If they're responsible, we still don't have any proof," she reminded him, she believed the circus was responsible just as much as her Sky Knight did but she thought someone should play devil's advocate.

"Or any other suspects, my gut tells me it's the circus, I just wish I knew why. I mean if they are xenophobes wouldn't they just stay away?"

"Maybe they're not," suggested Piper with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Wonder why they haven't appeared in the Atmos in centuries, guess I'll have to ask them."

oo0oo

**Sunday, 10:00 pm terra Tempa**

"Tell me Aerrow," said Roc casually as he turned from his desk to look at the Sky Knight. "How do you know it's been centuries? It could just as easily be decades or even one century, last I checked all you knew was that you were unfamiliar with us, until a couple days ago. Did you do a little research?"

Aerrow smiled disarmingly from the doorway of the arian's trailer, "Stork, a friend of mine has an old book it mentions your species."

"How old? Because it would be more accurate to say it's been almost a millennium, rather then a few centuries. I'm surprised the Atmos has any information. Arians haven't been in these parts since **before** Cyclonia. What did the book say?"

"Not much. Why are you here?"

Roc chuckled softly as he gazed at the floor smiling he turned to Aerrow. "We were curious, our government sent out a few groups to learn about what was going on in the Atmos, see what species had risen and fallen since we cut ourselves off, how the culture had changed. I told you I made a study of the different creatures of the Atmos. I know it seems strange to use a circus for the task but," he shrugged. "I ran one, the only one, and I thought it would be a good way to travel and meet others, get them to come to us."

"And there are other groups," said Aerrow.

Roc nodded "Yes, small groups, my Circus is expected to return home eventually we can only visit so many terras. Now if I may get back to work?" he asked playfully gesturing to his desk.

oo0oo

**Tuesday, 8:00 am terra Tempa**

"I can't believe I have to miss out on a trip to Terra Byte," moaned Piper as finished packing. While the others followed the circus she and Junko would keep an eye on Zix.

"Why do you want to go to this terra anyway?" asked Finn from the doorway of her lab. Aerrow sat on a nearby chair.

"Because it's where M.I.T is! I've only dreamed of going to that school since I can remember!"

"M.I.T?"

"The University of Mechanics, Information and Technology. It's like the most famous school ever! They make all kinds of advancements in engineering, mechanics—"

"And let me guess crystals?" interrupted Finn.

"Yes, it's the most prestigious school in the Atmos, I'm too young to go, and I don't have traditional schooling so I'll probably never be able to, and you'd guys would be lost without me."

Finn rolled his eyes.

"Anyway I'd still like to check it out," she finished with a sigh.

"We'll go for a visit after the mission's over Piper," promised Aerrow. "We should get moving the circus will be done packing soon, and I don't want to lose them there are three terras east of here they could be going to, we don't know for sure if they are going to terra Byte."

Piper sighed and swung her bag over her shoulder, "I'm ready."

oo0oo

**Tuesday, 03:00 pm terra Byte**

Radarr pulled in the wings of Aerrow's skimmer as it approached the _Condor's _landing pad. Aerrow smiled as he struck the metal surface and rolled into the hangar followed by Finn.

Because the carrier was easy to spot he, Radarr and Finn had followed the circus on their skimmers and told Stork where to go. The Circus had landed on terra Byte. They could take a break while it set up, since Aerrow was confident they wouldn't try anything today, so far all the disappearances and occurred one to three days after the circus' departure.

"Okay guys," announced Aerrow once they were all in the bridge "the arians aren't going to try anything today take a break, I've got something I want to do," with that Aerrow turned and left the bridge he felt Radar climb up his back and perch on his shoulders, he smiled and turned to his friend.

"Sorry Radarr I want you to stay with Stork, I don't think the circus will try anything but just incase he wants to leave the ship I want you to stay with him okay?"

Radarr saluted and jumped off his friend and ran back into the bridge.

oo0oo

**Tuesday, 03:30 pm terra Byte M.I.T**

The first thing Aerrow noticed about M.I.T was the sheer size it was bigger then any building he'd even seen, course it was made up of several buildings, he looked at one with large stone columns, the huge wooden doors were situated up a flight of stone stairs.

"Well that looks important guess I'll start there." He said to himself as he started walking towards it.

Turns out it was the library. Aerrow had seen libraries before but this one was huge bigger than the one on terra Atmosia, there were rows and rows of desks, and books.

'_Maybe I should ask someone…'_ "Excuse me," he asked a passing student who was carrying a few books "where do I go to ask about getting into this school?"

The student looked Aerrow up and down then shrugged "The administration building, go back out turn right you'll come to the residence building turn right again, can't miss it."

"Thanks."

oo0oo

"So," said the dark, sharp nosed man sitting at his desk across from Aerrow "You want to attend M.I.T."

"No, my friend does but she doesn't have traditional schooling."

"Why is that?"

"Cyclonia, we grew up in an orphanage but had to leave, we lived together with a couple other friends on a small terra, so she's self taught."

"Interesting," said the man peering at Aerrow over his glasses. Teenagers of both sexes living together, didn't sit well with the board of administrators… but there was something about the boy's bearing and manner that made him seem more like an adult then the average hormonal teenager. "Well, it is possible to gain entrance based on academic ability alone, she would have to write a paper, about a subject of her choice, and turn it in for review. If the board approves she can gain admittance."

"How old do you have to be?"

"There is no age limit although most of our students are over eighteen when they enter it's rare for someone younger to gain entrance you'd have to be really smart, so long as your friend has the smarts she can get in no matter her age or academic background."

"Thank you."

oo0oo

Aerrow decided to head back to the library, see if he could find out more information about the arians. He had just turned the corner into the historical section when he bumped into someone.

"Excuse me." He looked up to see Roc, the blue skinned being smiled.

"If I didn't know any better I'd think you were following me."

Aerrow glanced at the books in the arian's hands, he recognized one of them it was about recent history he had studied it himself back at the orphanage, it covered the rise and fall of the previous Storm Hawks.

"Trying to catch up on current events?" asked the Sky Knight.

"Yes, my government will be very interested, and I'm sure I'll learn a thing or two from this tome, like what would drive a fourteen year old to take and manage to pass the trials and start up a new team. Most interesting that the Storm Hawks are paying such close attention to my humble circus. Well I'll see you around Sky Knight." Smiling Roc walked passed with a wave of one of his numerous arms.

oo0oo

**Tuesday, 7:00 pm terra Tempa**

Aerrow sighed as the door to the kitchen slide open. He had spent hours in the library combing over books but found nothing, Roc had been carrying about five books and Aerrow had only recognized one he wondered if maybe the arian had removed the others not out of curiosity but because they had held information about his race he didn't want anyone else knowing.

He was hungry and looking forward to a good meal, it was Finn's turn to cook and although the sharpshooter wasn't the best by any stretch of the imagination he was worlds better then Junko. And it was a pleasant smell that greeted his nostrils upon entrance.

"Dinner will be ready in ten Aerrow," said Finn as he removed a dish from the oven.

"Thanks Finn, I guess I'll check in with Piper," now that he had confirmed the food would be edible, he walked back out of the room, and towards the bridge.

"Aerrow to Piper, come in Piper."

"Hey Aerrow, what's up?"

"Nothing on our end but I did go to M.I.T. I asked them if you could get in without traditional schooling. They said all you had to do was write a paper to be submitted for approval if they liked it you could get in no matter how old you are."

"…Piper?" asked Aerrow after a few moments of silence.

"Did you ask them if there's any way I can take classes from a distance?"

Aerrow smiled "No."

"Well maybe you should do that."

"I will, anything interesting happen on your end?"

"Nothing. Tempa's Sky Knight hasn't returned from their shift guarding the dragons. Have you spoken to terra Byte's Sky Knight yet?"

"Not yet, I'll see him after diner."

oo0oo

**Tuesday, 08:00 pm terra Byte**

Aerrow knocked on the door of terra Byte's Wind Jackels squadron's home, it was a large building that looked like it could easily house about ten people. A women opened the door she was tall about 5'9'' with long blond hair and tan skin.

"Excuse me I'm looking for the Sky Knight of terra Byte," said Aerrow.

"I am she, Lory, of the Wind Jackels."

"My name's Aerrow, of the Storm Hawks. This is my co-pilot and mission specialist Radarr," he gestured with his thumb to the furry creature perched on his shoulders. Radarr bowed his head in greeting. "Some kids have gone missing on other terras and I think the kidnappers are going to strike here next. Can I come in?"

Lory stood aside and gestured Aerrow in.

oo0oo

**Saturday, 07:30 pm terra Byte, Condor **

"So no one's gone missing so far Piper?" asked Aerrow over the radio. He was currently standing in the bridge with Stork at the helm.

"No one, Zix is getting kinda annoyed with me and Junko following her."

"She wasn't supposed to notice you."

"Junko isn't the stealthiest guy around."

"Well the Arians are packing and getting ready to head out there's nothing east of terra Byte, nothing charted at anyrate."

"Think they might be heading home?"

"Yeah, and I think it's where the other kids might be, the Wind Jackels went over the circus with a fine tooth comb and didn't find anything. Keep an eye on Zix if they are going to try anything it'll be tonight."

oo0oo

**Sunday, 03:30 pm Sky's near a few hours from the edge of the known Atmos, **

Aerrow yawned from atop his skimmer, they had been following the circus for a several hours now. Piper had reported that all was well that morning and so far everything was calm on Aerrow's end.

Naturally that had to change, and Storm Hawk luck insured that changed very quickly. The sky suddenly started to darken and clouds rolled in and decreased visibility. Aerrow jerked himself awake, these clouds had come in out of nowhere it had been clear sky's moments ago. He turned on his radio.

"Everyone be careful, I don't like these clouds, Stork can you still see us on scanners?"

"Yeah you're still there, so's the circus on long range," he confirmed tapping a screen.

"I can't see the circus anymore," said Aerrow. "Let's regroup."

oo0oo

Aerrow stared out the windows of the _Condor _searching for any visible signs of his query. "The good news about these clouds is that they can't see us," said Aerrow more to himself then to the rest.

"Um how do we know they can't pick us up on scanners?" asked Finn.

"We don't, but the Condor has better long range scanners than any other ship in the Atmos. We don't know if they have something more advance but we're just going to have to hope they don't."

Radarr started to sqwake and point. "What is it Radarr?" asked Aerrow turning in the direction his co-pilot was pointing. He could see something emerging from the fog, it was a ride, a skimmer, one of the newer models. Roc was on it. So was Piper.

Her eyes were closed. Roc was holding her upright with his two right arms, his lower right was been used to steer and his upper right held a blade at her throat.

He brought his ride to a stop a few feet from the balcony, Aerrow could see a small stream of red trickle down Piper's throat.

Aerrow didn't know how long the two stood there staring each other down. A whole conversation was been held with their eyes. Aerrow knew what Roc wanted, and it didn't take him long to realize there was only one way to get her away unharmed, still he tried to stall, tried to think. Finn could take a kill shot at Roc's head, but his crossbow was on the table and the window was up, by the time the two obstacles were dealt with Roc would have slit the crystal mage's throat. Roc's eyes told him as much when they saw the plan form in the Sky Knight's mind.

The trickle got bigger as the blade moved slightly.

Aerrow turned on the speakers. "We surrender."


	3. Terra Arianus

**The Circus**

**Summary****: People are disappearing and a father asks the Storm Hawks to find his missing daughter. Naturally they agree to help, and come across a mysterious circus**

**Disclaimer****:** **All Publicly Recognizable Characters, Settings, Ideas, etc. are the Property of Nerd Corp. The Original Characters and Plot are the Property of the Author. The Author is in no way Associated with the Owners, Creators, or Producers of Nerd Corp. No Copyright Infringement is intended.**

**Chapter 3: Terra Arianus**

**Sunday, 05:30 pm exact location unknown, **

The first thing Piper noticed when she started to wake up wasn't a sensation, like a light or a sound - it was a feeling.

She felt safe. She decided to explore the feeling a bit more before opening her eyes. It originated from a slight pressure on her left arm and back. A hand was on her arm and she could feel a strong arm on her— someone was holding her. She opened her eyes to see green and black against a backdrop of white.

"Aerrow?" she moaned as she sat up. She looked around; she and the other Storm Hawks were in a metal container with no windows. Zix was there as well, in a corner. Radarr was next to her, allowing her to run her fingers through the fur on his head. Her other arm was holding her knees next to her body, and she was staring at the floor. Finn was next to Junko, who was still asleep with a goofy smile on his face. Stork was muttering to himself in another corner.

"Don't touch the _Condor_ - don't scratch her, don't scratch her..."

Everyone was wearing a metal collar with a blue and red crystal embedded in them. She turned to Aerrow and noticed the slight pressure on her own neck she reached up and touched metal.

"Roc said it would be used to keep us in line." He told her. "What happened?"

Piper brought her hand to her head as she tried to reconstruct the images in her mind.

"We followed Zix down an empty street and an arian came out a side alley and grabbed her. We followed after him. He ran into the woods and into a shed. We went in but it was empty. I heard this hissing noise and started getting sleepy. Junko grabbed me and punched down the wall, and he started running. I can't remember anything else." She turned to him, wanting to know what had happened on his end.

"Hmm…" said Arrow thoughtfully before he noticed Piper's gaze. "Well a few hours ago we lost sight of the circus when clouds appeared out of nowhere. Then Roc showed up on a ride, with you, you were unconscious and he had a knife at your throat. We surrendered and Roc ordered that all the booby traps be disabled so his people could take control of the _Condor_."

Piper glanced at Stork.

"Yeah," said Aerrow, following her gaze. "He didn't take it well. I asked Roc if he could have his people take the _Condor_ back to terra Byte. He agreed, so I hope it'll be okay."

"Hey guys, I think Junko's waking up," announced Finn as the wallop let out a yawn.

"Oh, hey, Finn how'd you get here?" asked a sleepy wallop.

Once Junko was brought up to date Aerrow asked him what had happened after he punched down the wall.

"Oh I ran and saw the arian with Zix." He turned to look at the young girl. "You were unconscious. I chased him and he ran…I couldn't keep up and I started getting sleepier. The last thing I remember is trying to make sure I fell on my back so I wouldn't crush Piper."

"I appreciate that," said Piper.

"So what do we do now?" asked Finn.

"We wait. They must be taking us to where the kidnapped children are." Aerrow tapped his collar. "Piper, I want you and Stork to see what you can do about these things."

Piper nodded; Stork continued to murmur about the _Condor_ deciding the merb wasn't in a very helpful mental state Piper began to examine Finn's collar while the rest sat in silence_. _Everyone, including Stork looked up from their silent reverie when the container shook, signally that they had landed, a few moments later, the door opened to reveal Roc. He looked over the children. "C'mon kids - we have to walk to the circus from here. The set up we've been using to travel was borrowed, but we've got a permanent one a couple miles away. Or about 3.2 clicks as you put it these days. We could fly there but I think it'll be good for you lot to see a bit of the terra."

oo0oo

As the group walked through the arian town Aerrow was surprised to see humans, wallops and blizzarians walking about carrying things for the blue species. But not surprised to see they were all wearing collars.

"You brought us here to be your slaves?" hissed Finn.

"My people do not believe in slavery - the concept is disgusting to us," replied Roc coolly.

"Then what do you call that?" asked Finn, gesturing to an old man carrying heavy bags for an arian woman.

"Using geeshe."

"What's a geeshe?" asked Junko.

"A useful, smart animal," Aerrow remembered, frowning as things started to click into place.

"Exactly," said Roc. "Do you consider a guard dog a slave? Or a sheep with fine wool a slave? No; they are useful animals, not slaves."

"You saying we're pets?" shouted Finn.

"Yes. Now lower your voice."

Finn was about to respond to this order when Aerrow placed his hand on the wingman's shoulder. Finn turned to his Sky Knight, who shook his head. The blond sighed but kept his mouth shut.

"Aerrow, you see what I see?" asked Piper.

"There's no one under forty…" He turned to Roc, who was walking just in front of them.

"Yes, many geeshe have stopped breeding in protest to their status. There are geeshe under forty, there are even teenagers, but there are very few."

"So, not everyone stopped having children?" asked Finn.

Roc nodded. "That and breeding can be forced - the willing participation of both parties is not necessary. A threat to a brother or friend…" He shrugged. "There are also a few geeshe who are more than happy to force another, mostly males."

Piper's hand reached for Aerrow's and he gave it a squeeze. Finn relocated himself to Piper's right and placed his hand on her shoulder. Radarr, who had been walking next to Zix, ran up onto the fifteen-year-old girl's shoulder and muttered a growl. Junko placed a protective hand on Zix's shoulder and even Stork came out of his muttering to put himself into a protective position in front of the fifteen-year-old.

Roc smiled at their reactions. "You lot don't have to worry, at least, not yet. Females have to be at least sixteen years old before such action is even considered. At any rate, forced breeding hasn't worked as well as we hoped. The females often try to abort or make themselves infertile."

"You weren't sent out to explore," hissed Aerrow, "you were sent out to get more 'stock' — the other groups!"

"What other groups?" asked Stork.

"Roc told me that other smaller groups were sent out to 'explore' the Atmos. But I checked with the Sky Knight Association - there were no other reports of missing kids."

"That's because the other groups went for children who would not be missed; the war had caused many orphanages to overflow and, like I said, there are a few geeshe willing to help us in return for rewards."

"You're saying you had some of your 'geeshe' adopt kids from orphanages so you could get more geeshe'?" hissed Zix, who seemed to have turned her fear into righteous anger.

"We also had some arians disguise themselves as humans, and various other species."

Aerrow was hardly listening to the conversation anymore; he knew from experience that some people stayed at orphanages past the age sixteen. He remembered two brothers from his days in an orphanage: the older brother had stayed until he was nineteen because he wanted to be with his little brother - he had finally found work and after leaving for six months to set things up, had come back for his younger sibling. It wasn't until they were eighteen that the children were considered old enough to leave. Even then, they were welcome to stay for until they found a job.

What if they were raped… His mind froze briefly as it formed the word. He shook his head. What if they were raped before he got them out? How could he find them all? Could he contact the Sky Knights? What were this terra's coordinates?

He needed to get every geeshe off this terra. The only question was how? How many geeshe were there compared to arian? Why hadn't they escaped or fought back? His hand went to the collar. They would have to find a way to remove every single collar on every single geeshe and then coordinate them into getting carriers, and fly out. Running was the best solution since he didn't want to risk lives by fighting. But how to coordinate something like that, how to get the word to the geeshe but keep the arians in the dark a task made difficult due to traitors. People willing to rape and help kidnap children for a reward - he didn't know how he could stop the arians from learning. Maybe there was already a rebel group like in Cyclonia?

Aerrow was jarred back to real life by an anguished cry. He jerked his head in the direction of the source to see a man in his mid-forties in front of what appeared to be a grocery. He was on his knees, a basket of spilled apples lay by his left while an arian shouted down at him and kicked him.

"Stop!" ordered Aerrow as he ran. He stopped mid-stride and clutched his throat - it felt as if his blood had turned to lead. He just couldn't't move. It didn't hurt, but it was really uncomfortable; the world swirled around him and he dropped to his knees. The dizzying was getting worse - his head was starting to pound. He tried to get up - he had to help that man. "Leave him alone! Ahh!" He was past discomfort now, this was real pain and it was getting worse. Everything turned black.

As soon as Aerrow screamed, Piper jumped onto Roc's back and wrapped her arms around his neck. As soon as she did, she felt her arms go numb and she fell back onto the ground, and so did the other Storm Hawks. Zix it felt like her blood had become too heavy to pump and her head was hurting and getting worse by the second. Then, as suddenly as it had come, it left.

Roc stared down at the group. "You should know that animals who harm an arian are put down. That's the law. Chances are, I just saved Aerrow's life." He turned to Junko. "Go help your friend."

Junko ran to his Sky Knight, who was moaning and trying to stand. Aerrow realized he hadn't been out long, Junko had just arrived at his side, and he wasn't the sort to take his time. He looked over to the man he had tried to help, just as the man received another kick from his arian attacker or owner. Junko followed his gaze - they weren't very far. The wallop grabbed a fistful of dirt from the ground and threw it at the arian's face.

"Ah!" shouted the arian as his hands went to his eyes. The numbing sensation returned, and Junko fell to his knees. Aerrow grimaced but managed to catch his mechanic's eye and throw him an encouraging smile.

"Learn to control your geeshe!" shouted the arain to Roc before walking back into the grocery he owned.

Aerrow felt hands on him; he looked up to see Piper, while Finn and Stork were helping Junko to his feet. Radarr was looking at the group worriedly, wishing he could help but he felt someone should stay with Zix, who was currently crouched on one knee, running her fingers through his fur. Though Radarr didn't like being treated like a pet, but he had to admit he did like the fact that she knew that really nice spot behind his ears. The girl seemed to find petting him comforting so he let her since it made her feel better. And she knew _the _spot.

The others made it back to the main group and Roc looked down at Aerrow. The Sky Knight removed his arm from Junko's shoulders and glared up at the arian. He hated the superior look on the blue-skinned _creature__'__s _face.

"Shall we continue?" asked Roc.

"How long have you known we were investigating your circus?" asked Aerrow.

"What makes you think I knew?"

"You set a trap for Piper and Junko, and there was that talk we had in the library," hissed Aerrow, as if it was obvious.

"I started to suspect someone was investigating the night you broke into my trailer. Did you really think I didn't realize the light in the woods was someone trying to lure me away from my trailer? I figured I'd let the intruder leave, let them report that they'd found nothing. I didn't start to suspect you till the next day when I asked about the symbol on your back. I learned that the Storm Hawks had fallen years ago. The first few people I talked to didn't know that you were the new reformed group. Despite having done so much, you guys aren't that well known. My suspicions were confirmed when I went to the library on terra Byte and ran into you."

"Those books you took out - did they have any information on your people?" asked Aerrow.

"They did, not much, just that we had disappeared a long time ago and believed we were superior to all other species, and used them as slaves," he scoffed. "Like I said, we don't believe in slavery. Though there was a bit about our anatomy in one. That information was in an old book from the rare books section - I had difficulty smuggling it out."

"Were you trying to remove all information available about your species?" asked Zix.

"Yes, that was a second objective in our mission."

The group walked in silence for a few minutes. When Aerrow looked back at Stork, he slowed his pace till the merb caught up to him. Aerrow's concern grew when he noticed how twitchy Stork was; the carrier pilot looked about ready to jump out of his skin.

"Stork," said Aerrow, gently placing his hand on Stork's shoulder. The merb jumped slightly before turning to his Sky Knight.

"I'll think of something, you'll be okay."

Stork smiled and relaxed slightly, but only slightly. Aerrow turned when he heard a chuckle. It was Alto, who was walking behind the Sky Knight and merb. He glared before turning back to what was ahead and sighing.

Roc was taking them to his circus which meant he wanted them to perform, which left the sky knight with one very big problem. What was he going to do about Stork's crippling stage fright?

oo0oo

**Sunday, 08:00 pm terra Arianus**

Aerrow looked around the building the group had entered: the ceiling was made of glass with steel beams running through to support them. The building was oval shaped with bleachers lining the walls, save for a few places that were used as points of entry, and was much bigger than the tent that had been used for travel. In the center were two poles with a wire stretching the length of them.

"Piper, get on the highwire," ordered Roc.

Piper turned to Aerrow, who turned to Roc. "Why?" he asked.

"Because I need to find something she can do in this circus. If she's useless I'll sell her to a plantation; dark-skinned people like her are considered good stock since they handle the summer heat better. I can get a fair sum for her."

Aerrow positioned himself between Roc and Piper. The action was more to assure Piper than provoke Roc.

The arian sighed. "Look kids, if you're useless, you're gone. I'm not putting up with the cost of keeping you if you're no good to me. So far, Piper's the only one without a talent I can use." He focused his attention on Piper. "You want to stay with them, you make yourself useful."

Piper sighed but started climbing up to the high wire. The net was up so Aerrow wasn't worried, besides he doubted Roc would risk a 'dark-skinned' female getting hurt. He had the sick feeling that her sex only added to her 'worth'.

Piper managed to cross the highwire with no difficulty, but it was a far cry from the unicycle act. Aerrow turned to Roc. "She's a crystal mage, so she could make a great light show that would add to yours," _'__So long as you give her more to work with then a few rainbow crystals,__'_ he added mentally.

Roc brought a hand to his chin as he smiled down at Aerrow. "Not a bad idea, and with some training, she could put on an act. All right Piper!" he shouted. "You can come down now."

"Umm, out of curiosity," said Finn holding up a finger, "what do you have in mind for Radarr? And the rest of us?"

"Radarr can help clean - we can probably work him into a few animal acts. Also, my daughter took a liking to him so he'll be given to her."

"Like hell," said Aerrow as Radarr removed himself from Zix's side to take his usual position on Aerrow's shoulders. He growled at Roc, making sure the arian saw his sharp, pointed teeth.

Roc didn't bat an eyelid. "You don't have a say in this. Don't worry, she hangs around here all the time so you'll see him."

"Radarr isn't a pet, and he's the only one I trust to catch me on the trapeze."

"Velum and Alto will be working with you - you'll have to get over your trust issues."

"You're not separating us."

Roc took out his remote but instead of pointing it at Aerrow he pointed it at Zix, who soon fell to her knees and clutched her head.

"Sure you want to fight me?"

Aerrow and Radarr were by the girl's side. Aerrow looked at Radarr, who nodded and walked over to Roc, stopping by the arian's leg.

"Glad to see you've come to your senses," chuckled Roc as he put away the remote. "As for the rest of you, Aerrow's trapeze, Finn, you're a knife thrower, Stork contortionist, Junko strong man. Zix you'll be putting together an act with a few others who are good with a hula hoop. Now to assign you all people to train with.

"Aerrow you're with Velum and Alto. Junko, Moorhen. Piper, Prion. Finn, Drongo. Stork, Falcon. Zix, Phoebe and Gray. Now hop to it."

oo0oo

**Sunday, 09:00 pm terra Arianus**

Aerrow smiled. He was safe here; he could think, everything was fine. Then the blue hands wrapped around his wrists and he was brought back to harsh reality, only to be tossed into the air again to experience freedom. He somersaulted twice before reaching out to the blue hands. He wanted Radarr.

"Dinner time!" shouted Roc.

Instead of reaching out again for Velum's hands, Aerrow let himself fall into the net. He saw Piper fall off her unicycle just as he crawled off the net. He smiled in greeting.

"Work's easier then the mines," he told her.

"Except no Radarr," she sighed.

"Yeah…" Honestly, Aerrow would prefer together in Cyclonia's slave mines than separated in the circus.

Dinner wasn't so bad - the food was okay and Junko was supplied with enough. The Storm Hawks ate with the other 'geeshe'.

Vesper was there, so were the other missing children. All of them seemed subdued, but at least they were now all accounted for.

Finn took a seat next to her. "Hey, Vesper, right?" he asked her. "Name's Finn, I'm here to rescue you."

She looked at him skeptically. "Not doing a very good job mate."

"Your father asked us to help," said Aerrow. "He looked for you after you disappeared found out about other missing kids and told the Sky Knights. We were investigating the circus. Don't worry, we'll have you and the others out of here in no time."

Finn flashed the fire dancer a, in his mind, winning smile; Vesper rolled her eyes. There were others besides the kidnapped children, about twenty of them. They were all over thirty but younger then fifty. At least, that's what it looked like to Aerrow with the exception of one girl with a shock of dark navy blue hair and purple eyes who appeared to be nineteen or twenty. She had introduced herself as Finch when she sat down with them she was the only non-'newbie' to do so.

Apparently she had drawn the short straw and had thus been assigned to answer any questions.

"How many geeshe are there?" was Aerrow's first question.

"About thirty-three now, but Roc will sell several now that you guys are here."

"I don't just mean in the circus - I mean on the terra and how many arians are there? How big is this terra?"

"I don't know how many geeshe there are now. As for the size of the terra… about twenty square clicks. The arian population is about ten thousand. I don't think the geeshe population is in the thousands. There are few children, the protest was started over a century ago. It took a while to spread, many were reluctant to join but every year fewer and fewer children were born. About fifty years ago the protest really took off and here we are," she answered with a wave of her fork.

"What can you tell us about these collars?" asked Aerrow pointing to his.

"I have no idea how they work; I just know that the remote can be modified to work only on the collars it's pointing directly at or any collars within a certain range. So it doesn't matter if it's twenty geeshe against one arian."

Piper brought her hand to her chin as she thought. That made sense; back in the town Roc had been the only one to bring out a remote yet all the Storm Hawks had felt the effects, she had seen him turn a dial on the remote. That must have been how he had modified it to activate all their collars.

"Do you know what crystals these are?" she asked, tapping the crystals embedded in the collar.

Finch shrugged. "No, sorry never really wondered about it. I don't care what it is, only what it does. The blue one makes your body feel all wonky and can cause headaches, depending on the setting. The red one causes pain and, eventually, death."

"How bad do the headaches get?" asked Aerrow.

"It can feel like your head's been split open, sometimes people pass out, but like I said, it depends on the settings. At any rate, the having-your-skull-about-to-split-open feeling is better than the red crystal been activated; it's _really _painful. Roc rarely uses it; I've only seen him use it once, when a geeshe went after his daughter. Roc… kept that guy alive for days as an example. When he killed the geeshe it was an act of mercy."

"Hey, are we going to be put in cages?" asked Finn.

"No, we have a barracks, but you're free to leave - just don't wander too far. If you go too far from one of the poles in the center ring, the blue crystal is activated. We have free reign over the place, just don't threaten any arians no matter how badly antagonized you get."

"Is that going to be a problem?" asked Aerrow.

"Only with guests. The arians who work here treat us with respect, or at least as much respect as you can give an animal."

oo0oo

**Sunday, 10:00 pm terra Arianus, Circus geeshe barracks**

Aerrow let out a yawn as he sat on his bunk - it had been a long day. He turned to Stork, who was sitting just across from him. "You okay, Stork? You haven't said anything since we got here."

"I am not getting on stage, Roc can't make me," replied the merb with a twitch.

Aerrow sighed. He had wanted to address this problem sooner but there was never a good time. When they had been caught, Stork had been too worried about the _Condor _and Aerrow too worried about Piper, Junko and Zix to consider the Merb's stage fright, and after the incident in the village and Roc's threat, it hadn't seemed like a good time to tell Roc his contortionist would rather jump into the wastelands then perform. During dinner, he had been busy trying to gather information. He was grateful Stork had so far managed to keep his calm, but now that they finally had a quiet moment, it was time to address Stork's stage fright.

He turned to his crystal mage, who was on the on the top bunk of the set she shared with the merb. "Piper, don't suppose you still have a hypnosis crystal?"

Piper shook her head. "I had one on me when I was captured but it was gone when I woke up; all my crystals were."

Aerrow sighed. "Hopefully Roc didn't throw it away. Stork, is it okay with you if we use a hypnosis crystal on you?"

"I don't want to go on stage," murmured Stork as his eyes darted around the room. "I'd rather get thrown into the wastelands."

Aerrow got up from his bunk and walked over to the merb gently placing his hands on the carrier pilot's shoulders.

"Stork, look at me, calm down. You remember what Roc said about separating us?" Stork nodded. "Are you okay with Piper using a hypnosis crystal on you?"

"Only if it's Piper," replied Stork with a sideways glance at Finn. Who was currently sitting quietly on the lower bed with Junko. Finn sported an innocent look at the merb's slight glare. Aerrow smiled. Stork's voice was calm; he seemed like his normal self.

"Don't worry Stork, we'll have you back on the _Condor _in no time."

oo0oo

**Monday, 01:00 am terra Arianus**

Aerrow listened to the snores around him as he lay in bed. He was tired but he couldn't sleep. He was too busy worrying about Radarr, and if his co-pilot was been treated right. They'd been together so long, went on every mission together. Radarr was the one who had gone with him to Zartacla, Radarr was the one who watched his back during his fights with the Dark Ace, and every other fight Aerrow was in. They had been together for every mission. So this… situation felt off.

He wanted his friend.

* * *

**And that's it till next sunday people! Remember to review cause reviews make me Happy!**


	4. Planning

**The Circus

* * *

**

**Summary****: People are disappearing. And a father asks the Storm Hawks to find his missing daughter. Naturally they agree to help, and come across a mysterious circus**

**Disclaimer****:** **All Publicly Recognizable Characters, Settings, Ideas, etc. are the Property of Nerd Corp. The Original Characters and Plot are the Property of the Author. The Author is in no way Associated with the Owners, Creators, or Producers of Nerd Corp. No Copyright Infringement is intended.

* * *

**

**Chapter 4**

Aerrow bolted upright when he heard a banging. He turned to the source and realized it was coming from the door.

"Breakfast in fifteen!" hollered a voice, one Aerrow didn't recognize.

The geeshe who had lived at the circus for years immediately started changing, not caring if anyone saw them. Nobody looked at anyone else either, they just focused on a wall or their bed.

Aerrow and the others didn't have to change due to their lack of pyjamas, so they left the barracks and started towards the mess hall.

Silently, they made their way to the same table they had last night. Soon the others joined them as well as Finch.

"After breakfast, you are all going to be measured for your stage outfits." The blue haired woman informed them

Stork squeaked and cringed at the mention of a stage. Finch cocked an eyebrow at him before continuing. "You will be going two at a time into change rooms, one with a tailor and one with a seamstress. They will just take your measurements, and someone will go out later today and get you all a set of pyjamas and a change of clothes, not to mention underwear. Not sure if you noticed, but there are two barrack boxes under your bunk beds to put your stuff in."

She stopped when a plate was put before her. Instead of having everyone line up for their food, a full serving was put on a plate and that plate was put on a cart. Five other geeshe delivered the food. Junko had a very large plate with a generous serving, enough to satisfy him until lunch.

The Wallop was about to dig in when he caught Finch's death glare. No one was allowed to eat until everyone at every table had been served.

Junko looked mournfully at the porridge, but put down his spoon. A few minutes later, Finch nodded her head and Junko, smiling broadly, began to eat.

"You lot are awfully quiet today," commented Finch wearily. "Everyone is." She sighed and looked around the mess hall. Her eyes slid slowly over her old friends and family. She was going to have to say goodbye to many of them soon, and she was stuck playing babysitter to this lot. Her eyes slid to Kite from Nord, the 5'3'' thirteen year old seemed to have shrunk, her shoulders slumped and her arms were kept close to her side as if she would fall apart if she wasn't careful.

'_Guess the reality of the situation sunk in overnight,' _she thought wearily.

oo0oo

Radarr growled as he tore off the pink ribbon, threw it onto the ground and started stomping and jumping, waving his arms in a frenzy.

Pan glared and brought out her remote.

"Pan!" shouted her father crossly. "Don't bring out the remote for such a little thing. He doesn't want to wear a pink ribbon so don't force him. He's a geeshe. When it comes to such small things, you let them have their way. Now hurry up, you have school today."

"Can Radarr come?"

"No pets allowed in school, Pan," said Pan's mother from the table.

"Would you like Radarr to stay here and help around the house?" Roc asked his wife.

"No. I'm sure he'd rather join you today, just be sure to send him home by the time Pan gets back. And no, she can't go to the circus afterwards. She has homework to catch up on after your trip."

Roc smiled and shrugged his shoulders in surrender.

oo0oo

"So who's first?" asked the tailor as he stood in front of a curtain stall. The two stalls were off the side of the center ring, near the bleachers. They seemed large, about six by six from what Aerrow could tell from the outside. The tailor was an older Arian with slightly wrinkled skin. He had gentle eyes and looked at the children kindly.

Aerrow said nothing but walked into the stall, roughly pushing aside the curtains as he entered. He stopped when he saw who else was in the stall.

"Hello Aerrow," greeted Roc as he turned from the other Arian he had been talking to. "Hope you don't mind but I have to discuss a few things with the tailor."

"Ah Roc, nice to see you got some good stock," said the tailor as he entered. He turned to Aerrow. "Now pup, I'll need you to strip." He turned back to Roc and the two continued their discussion.

"Will you be getting rid of that short grey haired one?"

"Orion? Yes, I have to sell him, are you interested?"

"I could use some help in the shop. How is he with his hands?"

Aerrow shook his head, not caring for the conversation and did as he was ordered. He was reluctant to remove his shirt, but did, and cleared his throat when he was done, to redirect the Arians' attention back to him. They turned their heads and the tailor's eyes widened slightly at Aerrow in his boxers, and his torso covered in scars.

Roc raised an eyebrow. "What happened to you?"

"Does it matter?" He turned to stare at the tailor, daring him to comment but the old Arian just got out his tape measurer and started to work.

"It wasn't a rhetorical question, Aerrow," stated Roc evenly.

Aerrow glanced up at his captor, and decided it wasn't worth a fight. "I was captured by Cyclonia a few weeks ago."

"Anything I need to worry about?"

"I wasn't crippled; I can perform."

"Many wounds become sore when the pressure or temperature changes."

"I don't have that problem," replied Aerrow curtly. "You don't have to worry about the act."

"Good to know. Now Gull, about Orion…"

oo0oo

"Raarrr!" shouted Radarr happily when he saw his sky knight exit the stall.

Aerrow turned at the voice and smiled. "Radarr!"

The two friends ran towards each other and Radarr jumped into his best friend's arms. As Aerrow held him close, he whispered something in the creature's ear then pulled away and asked, "You okay buddy?"

Radarr chirped a happy sounding reply. Aerrow grinned and Radarr climbed up onto his Sky Knight's shoulders, smiling contently.

"What a happy reunion," commented Roc with a smirk.

The pair glared in response, then turned to the others. "Nobody put up a fight. Just do what they say," ordered Aerrow he turned to his sharpshooter, then glanced at the tent. Finn nodded and walked towards it.

"Piper still being fitted?" Aerrow asked Junko.

"Yeah. You talk to Roc yet?" he asked, glancing at Stork.

"About to, so make sure no one causes any trouble," ordered Aerrow, placing his hand on the Wallop's shoulder. "We need to bide our time." Sighing despondently, he made his way over to Roc.

"We need to talk."

"About the Merb?" asked the Arian, glancing at Stork, who was twitching slightly.

"Stork. And yes. Can we talk in private?"

Roc gestured Aerrow to the exit. Once the pair was outside the arian turned to Aerrow. "Well Sky Knight, what's the problem?"

"Stork has stage fright. He'd rather jump into the wasteland them perform."

"I have to get rid of him them."

"No. You took a hypnosis crystal from Piper, let her use it on Stork."

"It could easily be used as a weapon against my people; I'll have one of mine do it."

"They aren't experts, they might go too far."

"Either he puts up with my people or he leaves for a plantation."

"You can't do that!"

"Watch your temper Aerrow, getting mad will only cause more problems."

"You have my word," hissed Aerrow.

"What good is that Sky Knight?"

"It's all I have."

"Then you don't have enough," said Roc as he turned his back on Aerrow and made his way to the entrance. "I'll leave it to you to tell the Merb."

"Wait!"

Roc turned looking quizzically at Aerrow, lips pursed in impatience.

"At least let Piper supervise. If she says stop..."

"Very well."

oo0oo

**Monday, 01:01 pm Terra Arianus, Circus, Main tent.**

Junko had to concentrate; this was difficult work. Not only was he holding two very heavy weights, but three people were balancing on each of them. Their arms were linked and were supporting two others. Piper and Finch were getting ready to use a spring board to jump up to the top.

"Ready, Piper?" asked Finch.

"Ready," replied the crystal mage as she started running. She jumped landed gracefully on the spring board and flew up into the air, landing on Kite and Prion's intertwined arms. The two girls grunted slightly with the sudden addition of weight to their arms but managed to keep their balance.

Finch ran forward and used the springboard to gain the altitude needed to land on top of the human pyramid opposite Piper's. She landed safely and breath a sigh of relief.

"Excellent!" shouted Roc. "Very good. Junko how long can you hold that?"

"...Not very," grunted the Wallop, grimacing.

"Right, just a few more seconds then. All right Piper, Finch, back-flip off."

The pair did as instructed and once everyone was on the ground, Junko dropped the weights and crumpled.

"Junko?" asked Piper, as she knelt by her friend.

"I heard he could bench press a tanker," said Roc as he stood over the pair.

"Junko's not as strong as most Wallops," hissed Piper. "His knuckle busters usually give him an edge."

"Hmmm, we'll try this again tomorrow, and I'll return his knuckle busters for the act. But he's to turn them over when he's done," he finished, looking at Zix meaningfully. Indicating that she would suffer if they tried anything while Junko had his knuckle busters.

"We get it, Roc," said Piper. The Arian nodded and walked away. Piper sighed and shook her head before looking up to where Aerrow was practising with Alto and Vellum.

Aerrow landed on the platform and looked down in time to see Piper run towards Junko.

"Junko, you okay?"

"We're fine!" shouted Piper with a wave. She knew full well that any other answer would have the sky knight jumping into the net in a hurry, which would only anger his two keepers. She turned to Junko, fairly certain that he wouldn't make a liar out of her.

"Are you okay?"

"I just need rest," he assured her with a smile. Piper turned to Roc who was observing the pair from the sidelines. He smiled and walked away to see how Vesper, who was practising her fire dancing, was doing.

oo0oo

Aerrow sat down on the edge of his bed with a yawn, rolling his neck to help his sore muscles. He spotted Piper coming towards him. "Look under your pillow," he whispered as she passed. Brow furrowed in confusion, she did as instructed and a smile spread across her face when she saw the tools. She turned to Aerrow, who mouthed 'Radarr.'

She sat cross legged on her bed, facing Aerrow so her back was to the other geeshe, keeping her tools somewhat hidden.

"Hey Aerrow, how much longer we gonna stay here?" asked Finn as he approached.

"Depends on how soon we can get rid of these collars. We aren't leaving until we've gotten them off."

"Are we gonna take everyone with us or return to Atmosia to mount a rescue?"

"We can't take everyone with us," said Aerrow, "and trying would probably get a lot of people injured. But a delay by even a couple of days would mean a lot of girls would be raped in that time. Then there's the fact that if we go and come back, the Arians may have altered the collars so that they can't be so easily removed. The Sky Knights won't be able to do anything if the Arians use the others as hostages. We'll have to bring as many as we can."

"If we can find and organize them," said Piper.

"Well you're definitely going," said Finn.

"Finn, you don't have to worry. I'm fifteen, you have to be sixteen before that happens."

"Right, 'cause _everybody_ follows the rules. You're still in danger Piper, every girl is."

Piper was a bit taken aback by Finn's tone, she'd never seen him so serious. Finn was a goofball ―he didn't _do_ serious, even in the heat of a losing battle he would joke. She shook her head.

"Roc does, and if we hurry with the rescue, there's no way they have had enough time to modify the collars."

Finn sighed. He decided not to mention the fact that Roc might sell her to someone who didn't follow the rules. Instead, he turned to his sky knight.

"What did Roc say about Stork?"

"Yes," drawled a voice for Finn's left, "what did he say?"

"That he won't trust Piper not to use the hypnosis crystal on his people, so he's going to have a couple of them do it. Piper will supervise though, so they won't go overboard."

Stork sighed despondently but said nothing. It wouldn't do any good. This mission was pushing everyone. He climbed up to his bunk below of Piper's and laid down.

"Hey guys," greeted Junko cheerfully. He was later than the rest due to having help clean the dishes. Finn sighed. The wallop had thus far managed to keep his spirits up. One would think he was back in the _Condor, _safe and sound.

"Junko, could you sit on your bed?" asked Piper, gesturing to her tools. The Wallop nodded in understanding, and sat down, helping to block Piper and her collar-messing activities out of sight. She then turned to Finn, whose shoulders slumped.

"Why do I always have to be the guinea pig?" he asked, climbing up to her bunk and sitting next to her so she could examine his collar properly.

oo0oo

Aerrow awoke in the middle of the night. He sat up and looked around, wondering about the cause of his sudden alertness. Sensing nothing, he lay back in bed and closed his eyes. Half an hour later, he was still awake. Sighing in resignation, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Hoping a walk would calm him down, he opened the door of the barracks and headed for the cool night air. He decided to head to the lake, as it was less then a click away and gave him a destination.

On the way, he pondered over his options. As much as he wanted to take everyone with him when he and his team left, the coordination needed was overwhelming. It would take some time to recruit the needed people and find out where all the geeshe were. Then there was the fact that getting them all to rides while evading the Arians would result in deaths, and the sky knight did not want that on his head. He sighed and his shoulders sagged. He knew the arians had tried to hide their activities because they didn't want the rest of the Atmos to know what was going on. They didn't want to fight the terras they kidnapped from, chances were, they wouldn't want to fight against all of them united. If he could just get them here… But before that could be done, the collar had to be removed and someone would have to leave, travel to Atmosia, and alert the Sky Knight Council. One problem was, like he told Piper, he didn't like leaving the people here or the delay needed to amass a force to fight or he hoped intimidate the arians into submission. But it would be quicker than organizing a rebellion, and less costly. Problem number two: whoever went would be missed. The Arians would likely find out about the collar having been bypassed and correct the problem. Despite Piper's optimism about them not having enough time to fix the collars, considering how badly the geeshe were outnumbered, the Arians could accomplish the task. And even if they couldn't, they could fix the collars for enough geeshe that they would have the needed hostages to take the fight out of the sky knights.

He took a deep breath. He had to be calm, think things over clearly. What was the problem with the messenger plan? The messenger would be missed, which would put the arians on guard. They would interrogate his team, find out the plan and move to counteract it. He had no doubt an interrogation would be successful. His team would rather die than tell, but watch others die? That was another story. How could he overcome this problem?

If they didn't know the messenger was missing, if they thought he or she ― Aerrow still hadn't decided who to send ― was dead... That could work, the Arians wouldn't think anything was amiss.

How to fake a death? And without a body? Within range of the poles? Great, new problem.

He looked up and saw the lake just up ahead. Soon, his feet touched soft sand. He looked out at the water and saw a lump coming towards the shore.

'_A head? Is someone swimming?__'_

A figure started to rise out of the water. Aerrow could only make out a silhouette against the moonlight but he thought he recognized the build. "Finch?"

"Hey Aerrow. I'm skinny dipping so you might want to turn around."

Aerrow did as suggested. He heard the rustling of clothes and turned back around when Finch gave the okay.

She was sitting down on an old log that had washed ashore a few feet away. He decided to join her. They sat in silence for a time before she spoke.

"You and your friends, you're used to having a lot of privacy?"

"Yeah, back on the _Condor, _we each had out own rooms."

"Must have been nice."

"Can't wait to get back to it."

"Planning an escape?"

"Yep."

"Why are you telling me?" she asked turning to him. "How do you know you can trust me?"

"My gut, and I need to trust someone who knows this place. I know you've only been helping us 'cause you drew the short straw, but..." He shrugged.

"Well, I would love to get out of here, but not without my family."

"The other performers?"

"And my brother and sister."

"You have a brother and sister?" She looked at him. "Um, right dumb question. Older or younger?"

"I'm in the middle, my brother is a minute older than me and my sister is two minutes younger.

"Triplets?"

"Yep," she turned back to the water. "None identical obviously, but it's not unusual here. The females take fertility medication. So there are litters of three, four or even five."

Aerrow flinched at the use of the word 'litter'. "I was thinking, you're over sixteen and now that me and the others are here, Roc can probably spare you for a while." His eyes drifted towards her but her face remained in the direction of the lake.

"Eh, smart kid."

"How long?"

"Less than two weeks. We take the medication for a month, before... Roc's narrowed the choice down to three guys."

'_Doesn't__'__t give me a lot of time.__'_

He turned to Finch. "Any idea how to fake a death?"

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**Tune in Sunday the 12 for chap 5. And remember to review!**


	5. Swept Away

**The Circus**

**Summary****: People are disappearing. And a father asks the Storm Hawks to find his missing daughter. Naturally they agree to help, and come across a mysterious circus**

**Disclaimer****:** **All Publicly Recognizable Characters, Settings, Ideas, etc. are the Property of Nerd Corp. The Original Characters and Plot are the Property of the Author. The Author is in no way Associated with the Owners, Creators, or Producers of Nerd Corp. No Copyright Infringement is intended.**

**Chapter 5: Swept Away **

**Wednesday , 04:01 pm Terra Arianus, field near the main tent.**

It was a beautiful day, and the sun was shining with a few clouds hanging around, offering a bit of shade. Training had finished for the day and everyone was outside. The Storm Hawks were playing soccer with Finch.

"Aerrow! Heads up!" shouted Finn.

Aerrow jumped into the air, hitting the ball with his forehead. It fell to the ground in front of his feet. He ran with it. Piper dashed out in front of him, he faked left and darted right.

"Junko stop him!" yelled Piper.

The wallop smiled and banged his fist together out of habit. Taking a deep breath, he punched the grass beneath him with a mighty, "Haaaa!"

The ground before him began to crack as a fissure snaked its way towards Aerrow. He had missed kicking the ball back to Finn, awarding Finch the opportunity to steal the inflated leather and run with it. As Aerrow turned towards her the fissure reached him.

"Woooah," he exclaimed as the ground between his legs parted. "Oh that's not good."

"Aerrow, move!" shouted Finch. "There's an underground river there! You'll be swept away!"

Aerrow started to run, only to have the ground give way beneath him. As soon as he felt himself fall, he reached out and managed to grab the ledge, but the traitorous piece of terra gave way. The next thing he knew was in freezing cold water. His mind produced only one thought― _air_. He managed to break the surface and his arm hit a stalagmite; or was it a stalactite? He could never remember, and besides he had other concerns. He could see sunlight streaming in from the hole where he had fallen in. This water was freezing, he could barely hold his grip.

"Guys! Guys can you hear me! Ah," he ducked his head as the ceiling started coming down on him.

"Aerrow!" shouted Piper, from above the new hole in the ceiling.

"You okay?" hollered Junko.

"Guys stay back!" he yelled. "Find some rope!"

"Finn went to get some, just hold on!" said Piper.

"Aerrow! Are you alright!"

"Roc! I'm okay! All things considered," he mumbled.

"I'm throwing down some rope, get ready!"

Aerrow felt the rope land on his head and shoulders a few moments later. He removed one hand from the stalagmite/stalactite and grabbed, but before he could secure his grip on the rope his hold on the rock loosened and he fell back into the icy water.

"Aerrow!" shouted Piper. She moved closer to the edge only to have Finn hold her back. "Let go Finn!"

"No Piper, you're not thinking straight. Junko stay back! Finch, Stork!" The Merb and female grabbed the Wallop's arms, knowing they couldn't hold him back, but hoping the contact would give him pause.

"Junko!" shouted Stork. "He might have managed to grab hold of another stalagmite so we'll need you to make a few more holes, come on!"

They searched until sunset but found no trace of Aerrow.

oo0oo

Aerrow was tempted to remove the collar Piper had deactivated just before the game, but he might need it later to help him blend in. He broke the surface again, but this time didn't attempt to grab hold of anything. He wanted the river to sweep him away. Finch hadn't been able to tell him where it would take him, but according to her the lake water emptied out into this river. So did water from the mountain several clicks away, which was why is was so bloody cold. He couldn't get over the cold; it was like a thousand bog hounds roaring piercing his skin, and there was no light. The light provided by the holes Junko had made were long past. The water was churning him around and around, bashing him against the rocks. He wrapped his arms around his face, pulling up his legs in an attempt to protect himself and make himself smaller.

He hit a wall, and he felt the jagged rocks slice into his arms legs and side. The cold slowed the flow of his blood into the water and numbed the pain.

He stopped suddenly, felt as if he were hovering then fell down, down—legs forward—water crushing him—_air_―he'll drown—unfurls his body and flays― remembers: move with the current, get the momentum, break free. Focus― ignore the cold. Kick―move his arms for all he's worth— break free—break the surface—inhales.

The current is slow—an underground lake? That would be nice, he could rest. He had brought a light, but could only hope he hadn't lost it. He felt the wall and grabbed hold, and, reaching into his pocket with his free hand, found the flashlight and turned it on.

There was nothing, just water and jagged walls, but the water was going somewhere. He let go, let it carry him, and it brought him to another wall where he could feel the water sucking him down. He would have to go under again, but would he be able to resurface in time? Did it matter? He couldn't go back the way he came. He had trained, so he could hold his breath for seven minutes. He forced himself to calm down, and since the cold had slowed his heart rate it was easier. Part of him didn't want to move forward. It was so much easier to stay and drown. The cold would probably kill him before the water did. All he had to do was close his eyes. So cold, tired, torn...

He took a deep breath and dove.

The current helps—it bites—digs into him—but helps him move quickly through the tunnel—sharp turn, he crashes into the wall—the current sweeps him away again—still no air― he reaches up ―only rock—it cuts—tears his hand—pulls it backs—kicks, holds his arms out—better they crash into a stone wall then his head. The tunnel widens― he goes up—at least he thinks it's up ―hard to tell—hard to think— water's tossed him around so much. He needed air― kicks used up oxygen—hoped it weren't wasted. He reached— stone. How long had he been underwater? He needed to breathe, if he didn't get air soon he'd drown.

Dammit! Where was an air pocket? There had to be one— he couldn't fail, couldn't die... His vision was starting to go black.

Air! He felt air he took a breath, and then realized there wasn't much water either, there was nothing but air.

' _Uh oh.' _

He fell, at least this waterfall was outside the caves. He manoeuvred his arms so he was plunging feet first, while taking in as much as he could of his new environment. It wouldn't be a long swim to shore once he landed.

He hit the water― churning, churning― kick― move those arms― break free― one more time just one. He was free― the shore was close― almost there. Terra firma― crawl― get out of the water― don't stop― don't rest.

He knew if he did he wouldn't get up anytime soon. The water was still cold and he needed out. Finally his whole body was on grass; he was out of the river. He rolled onto his back and closed his eyes.

oo0oo

The boy was bloody, and the grass around him was brown with dried blood. His clothes too, and what she could make out of his skin from beneath the shreds of cloth. There was a large cut on his forehead, and a small pool on the grass beneath not yet completely dried.

He wasn't moving, so she knelt down and on closer examination saw his chest rise and fall. She looked at the collar running her finger over it. She undid the clasp, for if it was working it wouldn't come off. But it came off. He was collarless. Never before had she seen or heard of such a thing, save for the very young. He was small and skinny; she could carry him. Gently she placed three of her arms underneath his body. It was sticky from all the blood.

**Wednesday, 10:01 pm Terra Arianus, Roc's office.**

"What do you mean we're not going to look for him?" demanded Piper, bringing her fist down on Roc's desk.

"I mean that since he was swept beyond the boundary, the collar would have killed him. There's no point."

"This is all your fault," she hissed. "You brought us here, you stuck that collar on him, you did all this! You killed him!"

"Yes, but that hardly matters now," said Roc casually. "Now I suggest you get back to your friends, we still open in two days."

"How can you just—"

Roc slammed his fist on the table, "Unless you want a reminder of what the collars can do I suggest you get out and get to your squad. You are second in command are you not?"

Piper's eyes turned to mere slits of malice, and Roc could feel the hatred flowing from them, they were like black holes, biting, stabbing, searing past his flesh and into his soul, scraping and tearing as if it were putty. He could feel his flesh begin to sizzle.

"Get out," he whispered. He couldn't do more than whisper and reach for his remote, his only defence against the skinny teenage girl. Piper took a deep breath and turned for the door slamming it behind her. She went to the other side of the building that housed the circus, where the others were waiting for her. Finn looked at her, eyes asking if Roc bought the act.

"Roc thinks Aerrow's dead, he's not going to look for him."

The Storm Hawks and Finch tried not to look relieved. Radarr allowed himself a small smile before forcing it down. He knew his Sky Knight had survived.

oo0oo

**Thursday , 10:00 am Terra Arianus.**

The first thing Aerrow noticed was the smell, it was really good. He couldn't place it, but he opened his eyes and noticed a ceiling. He bolted upright, and immediately regretted it as pain shot through his chest. He clutched his side and felt bandages. He was in his underwear, and his arms, thighs, chest, everything, had been bandaged and he was in a bed, a comfy one. He reached up and felt the bandage on his forehead. It was itchy.

He started lightly scratching himself while he looked around the room. Everything was made of wood, the walls, ceiling, table and chair on the opposite wall. There was also a dresser next to the desk with a mirror hanging above it, and a bookshelf was situated near the foot of the bed. He wished he could make out the titles, as they might tell him something about his host.

"Don't scratch," ordered a voice from the doorway. "Are you hungry?"

It was then Aerrow noticed the arian women. Her four arms crossed over her chest, she was smiling pleasantly at him. She reminded Aerrow of Snipe except she was an arian and female, but she was no less muscular. Actually she was more so, because while Snipe's legs resembled a chicken's hers were just slightly less built then her arms.

"A collarless human," she said, shaking her head, interrupting his thoughts. "I can't wait to hear your story."

Aerrow looked down at the blankets as his hand went for his neck, there was no collar—wait had she referred to him as human? He looked back up but she was gone. He sighed and checked himself over opening and closing his fist to make sure his fingers weren't broken then moved onto his arms he had just finished them when the women returned with a tray. The pleasant smell was stronger. She put it on the table next to his bed, he saw bread, water, soup. She brought a spoon full of soup to his mouth.

"I can—"

"Not with those injures. I don't want to clean up the sheets after all the work I did on you. No arguing."

Aerrow opened his mouth.

"Vivian," said the Arian once Aerrow had gotten halfway through the meal.

"Excuse me?"

"My name, it's Vivian... Aren't you going to tell me yours?"

Aerrow would if Roc hadn't put up those posters. His picture was on it, but thankfully it wasn't a good picture and he had been wearing his costume. Still, his name had been on it. She may have heard of him, the last thing he wanted was to be returned to his 'owner'.

"How long?"

"I found you yesterday evening after dinner around 7:30. Guess that's a no on the name, well I'll just call you 'Red' then, not terribly original but it works. You're gonna need a few days rest."

oo0oo

Aerrow swung his feet over the side of the bed, holding on tight to the headboard for support. He managed to stand and took a step, and then another, then another, then fell forward.

"You know there is a bedpan next to the bed."

"Not happening," murmured Aerrow. He had actually been planning to get to the exit but no need to tell Vivian that.

"Hmmm," Vivian sighed, and helped him up. "Come on, washroom's this way."

"Thanks for your help," said Aerrow once he got out of the washroom. Vivian helped him back to bed.

"I wouldn't try to leave again, at least not tonight." She told him as he settled back into bed. "You still need a lot of rest, nothing seems to be broken but some things are definitely fractured."

"I'm leaving tomorrow."

Vivian sighed, "Not till after breakfast."

oo0oo

**Friday , 09:00 am Terra Arianus.**

Aerrow sat in bed eating. Well, drinking at the moment. He finished the orange juice and thanked Vivian for her hospitality. Then asked the question that had been plaguing him since he woke up yesterday.

"Why are you helping me?"

"You were injured," she told him casually, leaning back in her chair.

"You referred to me as a human, not a geeshe, and you put me in a real bed. Normally when you find a wounded animal like a dog and you decide to nurse it back to health you gave it blankets, pillows and a box, not a bed."

"You're not an animal," she said shifting her gaze from the ceiling to her guest. "Not all arians think all the others races are inferior."

Seemed too good to be true, but if it was, the sky knights may have help from an unexpected quarter. "And you're one of them."

"Yeah, not a whole lot of us, but there's a couple hundred. At any rate, I packed you some food." She tossed him a backpack, "And I got an old set of crutches you can use." She went to the closet while Aerrow got to his feet and swung the backpack into place.

"Here, I can help you get to where you're going," she told him, handing him the crutches.

"You've done enough," he told her curtly, he still didn't trust her. "My collar," he said, holding out his hand.

Vivian went to the dresser and pulled the object out. She was about to place it around his neck, but Aerrow was afraid she might reactivate it, accidently or intentionally. He held up his hand and fumbled with the device a good thirty seconds before securing it. Once he was at the door he turned around to face her once more.

"Thank you, for everything."

oo0oo

Aerrow used the sun to navigate, the shipping yards were on the northern side of the terra. Because he made his way slowly, it was almost sunset by the time he found them. He decided to wait another hour for when it would be dark.

He found a stack of crates and hid. So far he hadn't been seen, and if he had no one had paid him any mind. Just another geeshe running errands in the yard. The hour passed quietly, with no one intruding upon his solitude. When he thought it was safe to do so he would look around the corner of the crates and into the yard.

"We're never going to figure out how those bloody flying machines work," said a male voice suddenly, as tow arien men walked by. "Who would have thought those animals would be able to create flying machines more advanced than ours?"

"Just the smaller ones that are more advanced," replied another voice.

"No, their larger ships are capable of going faster, and their shields are also more advanced. I guess it's not surprising they've been at war for five hundred years now."

'_So their technology isn't as advanced as ours, that'll be useful. Sounds like they were talking about a skimmer.'_

Once darkness had fallen Aerrow made his way in the direction he had seen the two arians come from. He saw a group of arians around a machine, and when he got closer he saw it was a skimmer. He sat down and waited for another hour until the group left. The sky knight waited another hour but no one returned. He took out his flashlight and set to work on repairing the skimmer. The arians really had no idea what they were doing. He supposed that's what happened when a group cuts itself off and stopped the flow of ideas. Due to limited light and a desire to keep the noise down, so he could hear and not be heard, it took Aerrow two hours to fix the skimmer. Once he was done he quietly manoeuvred the machine to the edge of the docks and went over the side, only bringing it to life after thirty seconds of falling. The wings unfurled and after a couple minutes of flying he brought himself above the cloud line.

It took him several minutes to get his bearings as he didn't have a sexton handy, but once he did, he realised the closest terra was Terra Byte. It was going to be more than a full night's flight. He checked his fuel, not enough, so he would have to coast part way. It would take longer, but he would get there.

**And that's it till next sunday! Remember to review!**


	6. Opening Night

**The Circus**

**Summary****: People are disappearing. And a father asks the Storm Hawks to find his missing daughter. Naturally they agree to help, and come across a mysterious circus**

**Disclaimer****:** **All Publicly Recognizable Characters, Settings, Ideas, etc. are the Property of Nerd Corp. The Original Characters and Plot are the Property of the Author. The Author is in no way Associated with the Owners, Creators, or Producers of Nerd Corp. No Copyright Infringement is intended.**

**IMPORTANT NOTE: My beta quit in me after she finished chap 5 so the remaining chaps have not been properly betaed.**

**Chapter 6: Opening Night**

**Thursday, 12:00 pm Terra Arianus, Field near the main tent.**

"You sure, these crystals will do the trick?" asked Roc as he held a rainbow sparkler in his hand.

"Combined with a solaris crystal? Yeah, it'll be great," replied Piper curtly.

"It'll be ready for a run-through tonight?"

"Yes, Roc. How's Radarr?"

"He's fine listless and sulky, but still perfectly obedient. I have to admit that surprised me."

"I told everyone to follow your orders."

"Smart girl."

Piper glared, she hated been referred to as girl especially with that tone, she wasn't some kid. Not that she told him, she didn't want any trouble. Not when Aerrow was due back any day with back up. They were going to have a fight on their hands.

"Can I get back to work now?"

Roc held up his hands and took a few steps back. He had decided to be a bit lenient with the group, they had suffered a great loss.

oo0oo

**Thursday, 03:00 pm Terra Arianus, Main tent.**

"Okay everyone!" shouted Roc "Get ready for the run through, remember as far as you're concerned this is the real thing!"

Aeris, one of the older humans at the circus worked the lights aiming a beam at the center ring where Roc stood giving an introduction just the usual stuff about amazing feats and warning about trying what they were about to see at home. Once Roc was done Aeris switched off the light, and a few seconds later turned it back on.

Now instead of Roc there was Piper wearing a large clown nose she was shackled to a wooden wheel, with Finn several feet away facing her knives in hand. An arian stepped forward and spun the wheel. Finn had practiced this many times, with a dummy. And was more then a little nervous, at throwing real knives at a real friend. He took a deep breath. And threw, it hit right between Piper's legs. In the course of a few minutes the knives got closer and closer to Piper's body he threw another it landed a few centimetres from her head. Just like it was supposed to. Piper turned her head sideways.

This was the last throw, it was also the most dangerous. Finn had to hit the nose without hitting his friend. The wheel continued to spin Finn let it circulate a few times getting the speed down before deciding to throw.

He threw. It hit the red nose and nothing but.

Zix was next, as a few black clothed humans came to let Piper down and take away the giant wheel. Zix then came onto the stage accompanied by some jazz music.

She twirled a silver hoop over her head smiling as she walked to center stage taking long slow strides she pulled the hoop over her head and walked through it as she got closer. Once in the center she put it over her head and started rotating the hoop down her chest towards her knees. The hoop moved down and back up to her wrists. In one quick movement she brought up her leg placed the hoop on her ankle and bent backwards bringing her hands to the floor so only her one leg was in the air still spinning the hoop. Then without moving the leg with the hoop she brought herself back into an upright position. She quickly transferred to hoop to her wrist. And started twirling alternating hands the twirling motion was so fast it looked like she was holding a sphere she moved to the music dancing as she went. She then bent forward and did a cartwheel with one hand never changing the position of her left wrist as the hoop continued to spin, she did nine more, before standing and holding her hand out for another hoop which a stage hand tossed her. For the next five minutes she continued to twirl the hoops juggling and spinning them so they looked like silver orbs glittering on the stage combined with, it made for a breath taking sight. When she was done she bowed to the audience. The light on her turned off and another this one focusing on the stage left turned on.

Vesper walked out with a pair of fire fans. A stronger beat accompanied her as she danced her way to center stage. As she whirled and waved the fans around her in a circular motion shaking her hips in unison with the music. She bent back so her head was almost touching the floor while her hands continued to wave and spin the fire fans. Slowly she righted herself and continued her dance. The music started getting faster, and so did her movements the music stopped suddenly and she threw the fans, which were carefully caught by stage hands.

Another pair tossed her fire batons, the music picked up again faster then ever. Vesper spun the batons for all she was worth. Tossing them in the air catching them behind her back surrounding herself with streaks of flame as they moved around her body. She made her way to the front and held up her arms to signal she was done. The light on her turned off and another turned on behind her where two long red silk ribbons hung another two slightly behind and of too it's sides.

Piper and another women slowly climbed down the ribbons. They wrapped the ribbons around their waist. The swung upside-down, extended their legs in an aerial ballet. Finch appeared on the floor and took hold of the two center they lifted her up and swung her around so she flew above the audience. Piper spared her a few glances she really needed to concentrate on what she was doing. Looking like one is flying and not holding on for dear life with the silk like what Finch was doing was a difficult task requiring a great deal of strength. Piper would know she had tried. The ropes stopped moving and brought Finch down again. She danced on the floor gently waving the silk. She started climbing when she was a few feet up, she wrapped the silk around both arms and legs together extended them . She then swung them forward doing a complete summersault. As she did so she moved up the ropes, she repeated the exercise several times, until she reached the middle. Once there she hung upside-down for a few moments before removing the silk from one arm and wrapping it around her leg and straightening herself out. She performed a few more moves spinning and dancing along the silk. Doing movements far more complicated them what Piper and the other women were doing. After a few minutes the three slid down to the floor, and raised their arms. The ropes were retracted back to the ceiling and the group exited stage right.

Up next was Junko with his act. This time, when it was over however he didn't collapse, in exhaustion. He was followed by the highwire act, then Stork contortionist act. Roc had been the one to use the hypnosis crystal, after receiving instructions from Piper on exactly what to say, instructions he had followed to the letter. For a finally Stork climbed into a clear box about the size of a cookie jar, and back out, he bowed and left. Next was the animal act Piper hated this part, though not as much as Finn, he was one of the animals, he had to dress up like a clown and jump through hoops it was also his job to distract any animals that went after the animal tamer an arian named Garuda. He rode around the ring on a pair of raylies. Raylies were a cross between a horse and a cat, they were the size of horses and had the same shaped head except they had fangs cat ears and paws with sharp claws. Garuda rode one foot on each raylie. He carefully bent forward placing two hands on the saddles and bringing his legs into the air using his remaining two to steer the beasts.

The trapeze act was the last. Piper hurried to head up the lighting, using rainbow and solaris crystals she was able to artificially re-create the phenomenon know as aurora borealis or the 'northern lights'. As Alto and Velum flew thru the air they looked like a pair of spirits dancing amongst the sky. The combination of a sparkle and shroud crystal had enabled Piper to create a backdrop that resembled the night sky. It was, despite the situation, a beautiful sight and a part of Piper wished she could see Aerrow up there.

"That was brilliant everyone," announced Roc once the show was done. "Now rest up. We do it again in a couple of hours."

oo0oo

**Thursday, 03:00 pm Terra Arianus, Market place.**

Radarr scurried up one of the fruit stands poles as he looked around for Finch's friend. According to the blue haired acrobat there was a human named Fleck, he was known as a leader to the geeshe and he favoured peaceful protest, which was why he was still alive. Radarr was to give him a note from Piper. The note described how to remove the collars, and when to remove the collars. When Aerrow came back all or most of the geeshe needed to be free.

All he had to do was deliver it.

Course he needed to find the guy first.

He scanned the market eyes peeled for the one matching the description given.

"Radarr hurry up!" shouted Pan.

The furry creature shook his head and ignored the child. "Radarr!"

The co-pilot climbed down. "I need you to help me reach the stuff on the high selves." she reminded him as she headed into the store.

Radarr continued to glance around the market finally he spotted spiky green hair, he ran up and on closer examination saw amethyst eyes. He ran up the man's back chirping cheerily.

"What—?"

Radarr stuffed the note in Fleck's pocket.

"Radarr! What are you doing? common!" called Pan.

Radarr jumped down and ran towards the child arian, he paused halfway and waved at Fleck. Hoping the human wouldn't take the note out right away, the Storm Hawk didn't want to be seen passing notes to a known rebel no matter how peaceful.

oo0oo

**Thursday, 09:00 pm Terra Arianus, outside the main tent.**

If anything the actual show had been even better. Piper's moments on the ribbons were a lot more fluid and no one wobbled while making the pyramid during Junko's act. On the whole everyone was pleased with themselves. She the other geeshe and a few arians sat around a fire, trading stories eating baked goods off a tray that on a log between Piper and Alto, and drinking.

"Want some Piper?" Asked Alto holding out a bottle of beer.

"No thanks," she replied with a wave of her hand.

"How about you Finn?" asked Finch who was sitting next to the sharpshooter. "Try a sip," she offered holding out the bottle.

Finn shrugged and took a sip he grimaced, "Thanks but I'm good." He told her handing it back

Finch smiled and shrug as she took a swag.

"You know back home we can't drink, until we're eighteen," announced Junko.

"Really?" said Alto, "Kids don't know what you're missing.

"Hangovers?" suggested Piper. "Anyway we're squadron members, if our blood alcohol level goes over 0.04 we can be discharged."

"Seriously?" asked Velum.

"Yeah, we have to be ready for anything at anytime."

"You guys are pretty intense."

"We are at war," replied Piper, there was a weight in her voice, heavy and thick, the other Storm Hawks, Zix and all the other new geeshe suddenly became silent. As they remembered the loses they had suffered.

After a few moments of silence Piper got up, dusted herself off and grabbed a scone from a nearby tray, she then walked away absently eating.

She would never say it in front of the others but she was worried about Aerrow the waters would have been so cold, they didn't know if there was an opening just hoped, it was very possible he was dead, thinking of all the loses she had suffered in the war had made her wonder if Aerrow had been added to the list. Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice.

"Heh look at the geeshe, walking around like she owns the place."

Piper stopped midstride and turned to face the voice's owner. She saw three arians they looked like teenagers, they were all well build. It was the middle one who had spoken.

"I don't want any trouble," she told them.

"Too bad,"

Piper took several steps back until she felt the wall of the tent. She glared at her aggressors. "You don't want to fight me."

"Yeah, like it's going to be a fight," the middle one sneered. "You know what happens to geeshe who raise a hand against arians? They're either killed or moved to a breading center."

Piper suppressed a shiver she had been warned about the centers, since the geeshe population was so low any problematic females were placed in a breading center, it was a prison, and the women spent their whole lives pregnant. She turned to bolt but had only managed to take a few steps when two arms wrapped around her waist and another two put her in a headlock.

"Help!"

She started flaying and kicking she landed a good one on her attackers shin. "Why you little!" he yelled throwing her down. Piper landed face first, and felt pressure on her back, one of the arians was stepping on her.

"Don't forget your place animal— Ah!"

Something had just jumped on his back and pulled his hair, he swung his arms widely and tried to shake it lose. One of his friends tried to grab it but the blond boy jumped off and the friend ended up grabbing his comrade's arms.

"Piper you okay?" asked Finn kneeling down beside her.

"I'm fine, don't fight," she warned him.

Finn saw a foot was about to collide with her head and moved his arm to block. The others were closing in. He climbed onto of Piper's back, shielding her with his body, in retrospect not the best idea because now they were both in trouble. He protected her sides with his legs and her head with him right arm his left arm was dedicated to protecting his own.

"Piper get ready to run," ignoring the blows he was still receiving. (One good thing about constantly falling of his ride and landing uncomfortably on others was that it built up his tolerance level for pain.) He grabbed Piper shoulders dragged her to her feet, she received a few blows to the stomach but Finn managed to shield the rest of her, he grunted as a fist met his eye and shoved past the arian in front, he pushed Piper forward and turned to face their attackers.

"Piper run! Get Junko!"

Piper turned to Finn who had his back to her and was trying to glare at the attacking trio through his quickly swelling eyes.

Piper reached into her pockets there had to be something... a rainbow and solaris, not fully charged, but it had enough juice. "Finn get behind me and close your eyes!"

Finn did as ordered, as soon as he was in position Piper closed her eyes and brought the two crystals together. Roc and the others saw the flashing rainbow lights and came running. By the time they got there the three thugs were crying that they were blind, and trying to swing their fist in Piper's and Finn's general direction. The Storm Hawks easily dodged.

Junko ran up to his friends, "Are you guys okay?"

"Never mind that," said Roc from behind. "Did you do this Piper? Did you blind them?"

"They attacked first!"

Roc slapped her across the face, she stumbled Finn caught her. Junko looked like he was about to attack but Stork who had just arrived in time to witness the slap placed his hand on the wallop's shoulder.

"That doesn't matter Piper, you know the law or did Finch fail to explain it?" he turned his gazed to the blue haired women who cringed.

"She explained it, I didn't harm them, not permanently, they'll be fine in a few minutes," retorted Piper.

"They had better be. Alto, Velum escort these three to sick bay," he ordered gesturing to the three who had attacked Piper. Then turning his gaze to the dark skinned girl and blond boy "You two, my office, now."

oo0oo

Piper and Finn sat in Roc's office he hadn't said anything yet, he just glared at the pair. The friends alternated between staring at the floor and each other. After ten minutes Alto entered.

"Well?" asked Roc.

"The three have regained their sight they have no other injuries."

"Thank you Alto, you may go." Alto nodded and left. Roc turned to Piper and Finn. "What happened?"

Once they finished explaining Roc leaned back in his chair. "You two didn't hit them back, and like you said caused them no real harm, so I guess there's no need to punish you, however I should warn you had you permanently blinded them Piper you would have been sent to the center, and placed in a cell until you came of age. Finn may have received a thrashing for his own part but seeing as you're the leader, and therefore responsible that may have been avoided. All the same I suggest you avoid such confrontations."

"They—!" began Piper and Finn

Roc silenced them with a wave. "Enough, the three will be charged with property damage, nothing else, a mere slap on the wrist but you two are animals, don't forget it. Now I suggest you get over to the med center."

"Thanks for the save Finn," said Piper as the two stepped out.

Finn was about to reply but barely managed to get his mouth open before Junko spoke.

"Are you guy's okay? What happened?"

"We're fine guys," said Piper.

"What did those guys want?" asked Stork.

"I think they were just bored." said Piper.

"Seriously?" asked Junko all this trouble because three teenagers were bored?

"Anyone see Radarr during the performance?" asked Piper.

"Nope, he probably failed," prophesized Stork.

"Even if he did, we'll be okay." said Piper. "Besides Roc would have said something if Radarr had been caught so he's probably fine, we'll be out of here soon."

**Next chap is the last people so be sure to tune in next Sunday before noon. And one more thing, REVIREW!**


	7. Invasion

**The Circus**

**Summary****: People are disappearing. And a father asks the Storm Hawks to find his missing daughter. Naturally they agree to help, and come across a mysterious circus**

**Disclaimer****:** **All Publicly Recognizable Characters, Settings, Ideas, etc. are the Property of Nerd Corp. The Original Characters and Plot are the Property of the Author. The Author is in no way Associated with the Owners, Creators, or Producers of Nerd Corp. No Copyright Infringement is intended.**

**Chapter 7 - Invasion**

**Thursday, 03:00 pm, Terra Byte.**

Aerrow rapped on the door harder than needed but he was more than just a little flustered, he needed to talk to the Wind Jackals of Byte.

"What do you want!" asked an annoyed Sky-Knight as he opened the door. He was tall blacked haired with a long scar on his left cheek.

"My name's Aerrow of the Storm Hawks, we need to talk can I come in?"

**Friday, 11:59 am, Terra Arianus.**

Aerrow smiled as he approached the terra and readied his flare gun, carefully inserting a rainbow crystal into the chamber, he aimed it over the terra and fired. A large rainbow appeared over the terra. Now all he had to do was get back to the fleet, in a couple of hours the attack would begin.

Piper's smile nearly split her face in two at the sight of the signal, Aerrow was alive and had succeeded in gathering a force to attack to the terra. She had to get things ready on her end.

**Friday, 01:50 pm, Terra Byte.**

The redhead took a deep breath and looked over his shoulder, taking comfort in the sight of the other squadrons. Harrier flew just a few feet away, and slightly in front, the man just didn't want to follow.

"That's it up ahead!" Shouted Aerrow as the terra came into sight. "Remember the signal?"

"Red flare!" replied Harrier as the decelerated and Aerrow pulled up ahead. Harrier and most of the other squadrons would hold back until Aerrow gave the signal. The redhead looked down as he and the Wind Jackals flew over the terra, he pointed to where the plantation was. Eros sky-knight of the Wind Jackals nodded and headed off with his squadron. The Cloud Wolves and Screaming Queens and Starling, were heading to the Center, they were chosen for the job because either they were an all female group or mostly female. Perfect for dealing with rape victims, well the best they had. This would give the geeshe in the plantations and center some backup. Too many skimmers flying overhead would raise the alarm. The Arians machines might not be as advanced but in appearance skimmers and whatever the arians rode were similar in appearance. Still only a few could fly overhead without raising an alarm. Once everyone was in position Aerrow was to shoot off a red flare. Then Harrier would lead everyone else in an attack on the terra.

Aerrow decreased his altitude as he approached the circus, he unsheathed his blades and blew up a portion of the ceiling, now that he had an entrance he flew through it.

"Aerrow!" shouted Piper as he landed in the center ring. He smiled as he held out his left arm for an embrace, his right hand held his flare gun.

"All right dude I knew you'd make it," exclaimed Finn as he and Junko approached.

"Finally," murmured Stork as he untangled himself, and stood making his way to his friends.

"Get back here merb!" ordered the arian in charge of Stork.

The carrier pilot ignored the slaver.

"What's going on?" asked Roc as he walked towards the group. He didn't raise his voice he didn't have to, not even a cricket would dare make a sound at this point.

"We're leaving, I brought reinforcements. We don't want a fight Roc, we just want to take all the humans and wallops and aquions, every non-arian back to their native terras, and you never kidnap anyone ever again."

"My people agree to your terms and you and yours just leave?" Roc asked cheerfully, then his eyes became mere slits. "I don't think so." He held out his controller and pressed.

"Ah dude we deactivated the collars hours ago." said Finn.

"Ahhhhh!" cried a voice from the edge of the ring.

"Well most of them." said Finn, he wasn't concerned. The man who had cried out hadn't had his collar deactivated because he had happily raped a women a few years ago, and had volunteered to 'breed' with Finch. The reason there had been a delayed response was because he had been out of range of Roc's controller, but had edged closer to the center ring in hopes of attacking the Storm Hawks and winning some brownie points with the ringmaster.

"And everyone should be in position now," announced Aerrow as he readied his flare gun, pointed it at the hole in the ceiling and pulled the trigger.

"I take it you just ordered the attack on my terra," said Roc calmly.

Aerrow nodded. "Finn, you and Junko stay here, make sure no one in the circus including arians is hurt. Piper you're with Stork take my skimmer and get to the condor."

Piper nodded and waved Stork over. Aerrow continued to stared at Roc. "You'll take me to Radarr."

"Radarr is with my daughter."

"I don't have any interest in Pan, I just want my co-pilot."

"Besides Roc," said Finch from Aerrow's right "You really do need to get to her, she's probably scared right now. And Aerrow is let's face it an idealistic kid, a skilled strategist and leader but a kid he hasn't got it in him to kill an adult much less a child."

Roc seemed to think it over for a moment then nodded and turned. Aerrow sheathed his blades and followed.

Roc paused briefly to look at the sky skimmers as cloudtrimmers his own people's small flying machines flew overhead and crystal energy scored the air.

"We need to hurry, I don't want to think about what your friends could be doing to her."

"No sky-knight or squadron member would ever harm a child."

"And the Dark Ace fits into that statement how?"

"He's a traitor," spat Aerrow. "Lets go."

**Friday, 02:00 pm, Sky's around Terra Arianus.**

"That's the signal!" shouted Harrier. "Let's move! Buff buzzards, Third Degree Burners head to the market! The rest of you with me. " He ordered flying towards the largest and most official looking building.

"Where are we going sir?" asked Harrier's second in command a blond women with spiky hair.

"We're going to their city hall. The quickest way to disable any opponent is to cut off the head."

Starling the Screaming Queens and the Cloudwolves meanwhile flew down as fast as they could towards the Center as soon as she saw the flare. She and the others soon breached the perimeter, She aimed her nun-chucks at the doors and blasted, and charged threw the door on her skimmer, no one was stopping her, besides there wasn't much security the arians relied on collars to protect them from there victims. All the same this was going to be difficult, the Storm Hawks hadn't found anyway into the center, hostages were a very real possibility. Their priority was to take out the arians wielding controllers.

A couple of arian nurses gaped at her and reached for their controllers. Starling used her nun-chucks to blast them and took the controllers, as her comrades ran past her and fanned out, determined to first neutralize all threats. One of the nurses moaned Starling grabbed her. "How many are been raped right now and where can I find them?"

**Friday, 02:30 pm Terra Arianus, The Circus Main Tent.**

"You like been in the receiving end Arian!" shouted Arthur as he stuck Velum on her side with a metal pole. Arthur and a few other humans had gained up on Alto and Velum. The Arians were outnumbered. The ones who had decided to fight had been handled by Junko who had gotten his knuckle busters back, he was on the other side of the tent and unable to help the two arians.

Arthur was about to strike another blow to the female arian's side only to have Finn grab hold of his wrist.

"That's enough, I don't like her either. But she's not a threat anymore."

"You don't know anything about what it's like!" shouted Arthur.

"I don't know anything?" hissed Finn his eyes narrowing, his blue eyes boring into the older mans "I've been fighting a war since I can remember, I watched my family die and my home burn. And even I've never tried to kill the ones responsible."

"Why?"

Finn's eyes widened at the question and he looked at the floor briefly "I... It wouldn't do any good. And beating her up won't do any good, by this time tomorrow you'll be sleeping in your own room and she'll be cleaning animal cages. Let it go man, it's over."

"If your friends win."

"They'll win."

Pan ran through the streets terrified, Radarr was beside her running to keep up. Whatever her faults she was still a child and he felt duty bound to protect her. He still wore his collar he could remove it at anytime he simply chose not to, knowing that it would upset her to see that he was no longer under her control.

"Ooomff" she yelped as she ran into something and fell back.

"Look at the little brat," said a human looking down on the pair grinning "not so tough now are you kid?"

"You're one of the janitors a my school," stuttered Pan.

"I was until you and your friends came along thought it was fun to knock over my buckets of water and claim that I had let all the animals out of their cages, when it was you. I got ship off to a much less pleasant job because of you brat!" he shouted as he reached for her. Radarr didn't hesitate he leapt up and kicked the former janitor in the face knocking him out.

"Radarr!" shouted Aerrow.

"Pan!" yelled Roc.

"Dad!"

"Rarr." squawked Radarr as he leapt into his sky-knights arms. Once they had finished hugging Radarr removed his collar.

"Good to have you back," said Aerrow. He turned to Roc and his daughter "will you two be okay?"

"You care?"

"I told you I don't want anyone to die."

"Bit late for that kid." said Roc staring at the ground a few feet away. Aerrow turned to look. An arian and a human were lying face down on the ground large pools of blood beside them. Aerrow didn't recognize the arien but he knew the human, the old man from the grocer, the one Aerrow had tried to help the first day he had come to this terra.

"I'm sure he's very grateful for your assistance," taunted Roc. "So glad you came to help."

Aerrow glared at the arian and turned away motioning for Radarr to follow.

"Stork! You've been hugging the _Condor _for five minutes, we gotta help the others." The two were alone in the control room. The male squadee from the Cloud Wolves who had flown the ship over had left as soon as they arrived eager to get into the fray.

"Yeah you're right," said Stork leaning back from the controls he had been hugging. "It's time to get a little payback," he began to chuckle.

Piper rolled her eyes "Stork!"

"Oh all right, let's go.

"Common my love," said the merb cheerfully as he turned the key and the shipped purred as it was brought back too life. "Let's show these arians what you can do."

Blister was not only having a bad day it was starting to look like he was about to have his last day, he was been chased by three arians on cloudtrimmers, and these weren't civilians either they were part of the terra's military.

He looked over his shoulder, two of them were about to fire. He couldn't block both attacks. He readied his weapon, he could take one down with him. He was forced to close his eyes as a bright light flew past and hit both his attackers, they fell. Blister could see one of his attackers arms was... badly damaged, and would be useless to the man. He turned to see Stork flying the _Condor _and Piper in her heliscooter flying beside it. They were heading to in the direction of the circus. Blister smiled, no doubt the annoying blond wanted his cross bow back.

Piper and Stork were making their approach on the circus when the sky crackled to life, and a hologram of an arian male who Piper didn't recognize appeared in the air.

"Arians lay down your arms! This is a direct order! Lay down your arms!"

A hologram of Harrier appeared beside the arian. "Sky knights the fight with the Arian military is over. Lay down your weapons and focus on helping the injured; arian, human, merb, aquinon. Refuse aid to no one."

Aerrow meanwhile was wandering around the terra helping anyone in need, he blasted an arian and human who had still been fighting. Radarr, who sat on his usual perch chirped in the sky knight's ear.

"I'm fine Radarr. Just because the arians and squads have been ordered to stand down doesn't mean the everyone's going to stop. A lot of the slaves are going to want revenge and I don't think the arians are going to be happy about the situation either."

**Friday, 06:30 pm Terra Arianus, City Hall, City Council meeting room**

Aerrow and Radar had spent over three hours breaking up fights and helping the wounded. He was now sitting at a table with the arian leaders, Roc, Starling, Harrier and other Rex Guardians.

"New doctors will be arriving over the next few days, to help with your wounded, meanwhile the oldest, and most infirm of your slaves will be transported to Terra Byte." Announced Harrier.

"And we're supposed to believe that you want to bring in these doctors to help us as well your fellow geeshe?" asked the arian leader Crissal.

"We aren't animals," hissed Aerrow "And yes you are supposed to believe it, and here's why. We're in the middle of a war and half our force is here, dealing with you, leaving the Atmos venerable to attack, we don't have the time or resources to deal with your slavers and protect our homes. You guys are nothing compared to Cyclonis, but we can't stretch ourselves this thin for long."

"I fail to see how that should reassure me your doctors will be treating my people," said Crissal.

"Because, refusing aid to your people will increase hostility. And we'll be able to find all your slaves faster if we have their help. We also need all records if we're going to have any luck reuniting the families you've separated."

"You don't seem to consider us much of a threat, sky knight, it those are your only concerns." said Roc calmly. "If we are nothing why use half your force do deal with us?"

"Because you have rape camps," replied Harrier with equal calm "we consider that a war crime. We needed to deal with you quickly, an overwhelming force was the easiest way to accomplish that. Within a day we've beaten your army, and have started taking your slaves and victims home. If we had brought only a few terra's worth of fighters, we'd still be fighting and more people on both sides would be dead."

"We just want to take all your victims home," said Aerrow.

"Then take them and leave we don't want your doctors," said the Crissal.

"Crissal—"

"Not one word Roc, this is your fault, you brought the sky-knight here."

"At your request, Crissal you asked that I track down the most able bodied children of the Atmos. And for all of Aerrow's trouble causing abilities he is an able bodied _child_."

"Aerrow is a sky-knight," cut in Harrier. "And he is not what we are here to discus. Your people are guilty of war crimes."

"Do you want restitution?" asked Crissal.

"Haven't you been paying attention?" asked Roc. "Demanding such a thing would require more force, they want to get back to their homes. In and out."

"With no thought for our people." said Crissal

"No thought for your people!" shouted Starling. "How much thought did you give ours when you set up that rape center!"

"You are animals," said Crissal. "More intelligent them most but—" he stopped as Starling withdrew her weapon she looked like she was about to attack. Aerrow put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. He glanced at Harrier who nodded, turning back to Starling Aerrow lead her out to a balcony that overlooked the terra.

"You okay?" he asked.

"You weren't there Aerrow you didn't see—" She stopped herself and turned to look at the city.

"Starling it's over, making war on the arians won't do any good."

"They treat us like animals."

"They're ignorant."

"They're evil, you didn't hear the women screaming Aerrow, only the most depraved would be able to ignore those cries. They shouldn't be allowed to leave this terra."

"Banishing them from the rest of the Atmos won't help, there are good people here Starling, an arian saved my life and helped me escape. Making it illegal for an arian to set foot on other terras will only insure every arian remains ignorant, and endanger the ones who helped, they'll be seen as traitors, if they can't leave they'll be in trouble."

"I don't want them on Terra Mespa."

"Starling, been a sky-knight doesn't give you the right to decide who comes to your terra. You're going have to abide by the treaty we're negotiating."

"You and Harrier are doing all the negotiation Aerrow. If I had any say in the matter the arian race wouldn't be allowed off this terra, they got along just fine without leaving it for a thousand years."

"Starling, may I have a word with Aerrow?" requested Roc from behind the Interceptor.

Starling glared at the arian, but walked past him without another word and back into the conference room.

"How's Pan?" asked Aerrow.

"She's good, thank Radarr for me."

"He was just doing his job."

"It's only a job if you get paid. How do you kids support yourselves anyway?"

"We sell the parts we get from the ships and rides we take down we also transport goods. What do you want?"

"Seemed like the conversation was getting heated, I thought an interruption was in order. Many of my people will not wish to leave our terra, we are well aware that we will not be welcome. Your friend has nothing to worry about. Well, very little at least."

"It's not about keeping you off her terra it's about punishing you for the rapes."

"Your people are really worked up about that."

"Wouldn't you be if it was Pan?" Roc said nothing just continued to stare at the youth, Aerrow sighed. "I should probably get back inside."

**Sunday, 02:30 pm Terra Arianus, shipping yard**

"Ready to go Stork?" asked Aerrow. The merb had removed a panel from a wall and was tinkering with wires on the other side.

"Almost, just need to set up a few more traps, then we'll be out of here."

"Not a moment to soon," said Aerrow. "Hey Stork."

"Yeah?"

"Good work, I know getting up on that stage and allowing yourself to be hypnotised wasn't easy. You never let us down, thanks."

"Just don't make me do it again."

Aerrow smiled half heartedly he couldn't make that promise so he said nothing just turned to leave.

"You should talk to Finn," said the merb as Aerrow walked through the doorway.

Aerrow cocked and eyebrow but didn't question the suggestion, instead he walked towards the sharpshooters room. "Hey Finn you in there?" he asked knocking.

"Yeah, come in."

"Are you okay?" asked Aerrow as he walked in, he crossed his arms and waited for a response.

"I'm fine, why wouldn't I be? Finch was reunited with her brother and sister, all the slaves are free and heading to a new home. And none of us were hurt, except you."

"I'll be fine, did something happen at the tent?"

"Nothing me and Junko couldn't handle."

"Alright then," said Aerrow as he began to turn, he couldn't push his sharpshooter into telling him anything.

"Um Aerrow?"

"Yeah Finn?"

"You ever wonder if one of the talons we've fought was one of the ones responsible for killing your mom? And what would you do if you found him?"

"I... try not to think about it, it was a long time ago, I barely remember the fire. But even if I did find them it wouldn't matter, the last Master Cyclonis was the one responsible, and she's dead."

"What about the talons who actually did it?"

"I used to hate them but... now, they were just like Shrike, once. If we had been born in Cyclonia, we'd probably be burning down terras. I try to keep that in mind."

"Thanks Aerrow."

"Anytime Finn."

**The End**

* * *

**And that's it, the story is done. Hope you all enjoyed it, hope you all had a merry Christmas and will have a great new year. Oh and a special thanks to Mahou Shoujo crystalic katomi who was very prompt in telling me I posted the wrong chapter. Thank You!  
**


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